Manhunt
by tocks
Summary: Sawyer goes out to find the men responsible for everything that went wrong on the raft, but with a little help, he might just find himself in the process. -A post 'WKD' SK story. Dead and unfinished for now.-
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Manhunt

**Setting:** Post-"What Kate Did" and including spoilers up until the preview for the next new episode (which airs next year, yikes.) This picks up the story pretty much where we left off in the episode. Only it's a few days after. Yeah.

**Disclaimer:** I wish I had my own Sawyer, unconscious and shirtless on my bed. I would obsessively hover over him until I hallucinate sexy black stallions... But, sadly, I don't. The Lost crew and that lucky psycho killer Kate do. Sue me not.

**Author rambles:** Hello. This is my first time straying from fun one-shots and attempting a longer, chapter story for Lost. The thing that scares me about longer stories is that I actually have to remember to update :D Shouldn't be much of a problem this time around since we have that long ass gap between episodes and it's mostly over Christmas vacation. So I'll attempt to keep on top of this story with at least one update a week, if not more. But feel free to give me a friendly reminder if I start to slack off ;)

As for the story, the idea for it formed about two weeks ago, but I had to wait until "WKD" aired 'cause I knew it'd likely affect key points of the story. Not much, but minor details. You'll see as we go along.

This first chapter is kind of long and will probably bore most of you, but it was needed to catch us up on current events. After this, the plot will start moving along and I'll try to keep chapters about this size.

And yea. Hope ya'll enjoy ;)

(By the way, it's mildly rated now but a few chapters later on will border "R" territory. Just a head's up.)

---

_"If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else."  
_ - Marvin Gaye (American soul singer, songwriter and producer, 1939-1984)

---

Kate stood to the side, shadowed from the campfire light by the low vegetation that grew where the forest ground met the sand, carefully watching Jack as he briefed the few people gathered around him. It was early in the morning and there was still some time before the sun would rise, but the small group had been congregated for a good hour now. This was the second day in a row that they would be going out into the jungle, and Kate observed them with a stab of jealousy. She wouldn't be going along, though that was mostly out of her own accord. For once, she had a reason to stay back while the others went ahead.

The alpha of the recent newcomers, Ana Lucia, stood authoritatively beside Jack, having steadily assumed the leadership role right alongside him. Kate felt another tinge of envy, though she mentally kicked herself for the action. She had no real right to hate the women, despite the fact that she had murdered one of their own- if by accident- and was now working her way into Kate's place amongst the castaways- though no one was quite accepting her with open arms. Giving up her position, both as the next-in-command and as the always-willing adventurer, had also been Kate's choice. It came with the new territory she was trekking. She couldn't have it both ways. There had to be sacrifices.

This is how things had to be. At least for now. Eventually, Kate clung to the belief that everything would go back to normal. That is, if there was a "normal" here.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Kate regarded the rest of the group. It consisted of two middle-aged men who had stepped up to help on different occasions over the past two months on the island. Kate realized she didn't even know their names, and that fact made her feel slightly guilty. Had she really been so preoccupied before as not to have taken an interest in something so simple as learning an extra name or two?

With a sigh, her gaze wandered to Sayid, who also stood with the team, though seemingly not listening to what was being discussed. Kate figured he was probably absorbing every word, even if he had a lot more on his mind. He had barely spoken a word over the past few days and often spent his time away from the camp. Kate was worried about him, but she hadn't found the time to talk to him since that day by Shannon's grave, though that hardly counted as a comforting chat. Her guilt suddenly grew a notch.

A few feet away, Jin observed the group with a reserved expression. Sun stood by his side with her arms crossed, nervously throwing her husband glances, as if afraid he would disappear if she didn't check on him every few seconds. He had wanted to go with the others, but Sun had pleaded him to stay. He hadn't had the heart to go against her wishes for a second time. There was too much to lose now. Kate knew the feeling.

Of the other newcomers, Rose's husband had made no outward indication of wanting to join the party, though Kate couldn't blame him. He had rarely left his wife's side since they'd reunited, and their solid dedication and unconditional love brought smiles to all who crossed their path- which given the circumstances on the island now, was a worthwhile accomplishment. Despite being stranded and faced with unknown dangers, Rose and Bernard were now together and that alone made them happy and seemingly trouble-free. Kate found herself almost hating them at times. She would never have that.

There was one other woman- Libby- who had kept herself busy over the past week by sitting down and talking to every person on the camp at least once. Kate had managed to avoid her up until now, partly because she spent most of her time at the hatch and few bothered seeking her out when she was there. From what she'd gather, Libby had been a psychologist back in the real world. And apparently a good one at that, for people seemed to enjoy spilling their problems to her. Or maybe everyone just needed someone to talk to, professions be damned. With nerves running low, people hadn't the time to stop and make friends. Libby's calm nature was a welcomed change. Kate made a mental note to continue steering clear of her. She wasn't much for being analyzed and she didn't need any more friends.

And last, but most certainly not least, there was the mysterious Nigerian man who had taken off into the jungle with Locke almost three days ago. He and Locke had become an almost instant item since their first meeting. They were eerily alike yet outwardly different. Most notably, they shared a recurring trust in fate. The difference lay in that Locke followed it blindly while the other man wasn't afraid to question it. They evened each other out in a manner that seemed almost uncanny in its perfection. Kate hadn't really seen enough of this "Mister Eko" to decide whether she approved of him or not, but the fact that he was greatly responsible for bringing Sawyer back to them on time was enough for now. Kate realized she still hadn't thanked him.

Jack's voice began to fade off and Kate snapped out of her thoughts once again. She watched as the group starting on their way. Silently, she wished them luck.

Michael had been gone for close to four days now. He claimed that Walt had contacted him through the hatch computer and the possibility that he was out there sent Michael on a mindless and dangerous pursuit into the jungle alone. Everyone had found it highly unlikely that it was really Walt on the other side of the computer, but their attempts to talk some sense into Michael had been futile. He'd taken a pair of rifles, some food and water, and headed out into the woods that same night, right under everyone's nose.

The next afternoon in the hatch, Locke had announced that he would track Michael down and bring him back. Eko had stepped up, stating that he knew where he was heading and that he wished to go along. Apparently, it wouldn't have been his first time bringing Michael back. The two of them had left before anyone was given a chance to disagree.

It took Jack the day to organize a proper search party, though it proved useless in the end. They'd followed the existing tracks for a few hours, then an unlikely storm blew in and forced them back to camp. Now, they had gathered enough supplies to last them a few days, and once again they were going out. The rain had washed away most of the prints, so the odds were against them. Still, no one wanted to sit around and do nothing. A false hope was better then none.

As the party slowly made its way towards the trees, Jack's eyes caught Kate by surprised. They stared at each other evenly for a moment, then Kate lowered her head. When she looked up a second later, he had disappeared into the shadows of the forest. Kate hadn't said good-bye. Her gut twisted as she remembered the last time she made that mistake. This situation was oddly similar.

Her and Jack had hardly spoken over the past few days. He had stopped by the hatch every so often to check on Sawyer and take over a shift here and there. Kate always made sure to be conveniently absent. She knew she was being immature and that eventually she would have to face him and perhaps go so far as to explain what had gone on between them in the jungle the day Michael had left. But with everything going on lately, it seemed only natural to postpone that meeting.

Her relationship with Sawyer, on the other hand, had taken a welcoming turn. He had been conspicuously chatty and amiable, at least at first. He shamelessly enjoyed the pampering Kate willingly provided, even going so far as to allowing the whole "baby-feeding" approach Kate had offhandedly teased him about when he was still out. His sharp sense of humor hadn't faltered. The night after he'd first woken, he'd commented on Kate's exhaustion with genuine concern and not so subtly invited her into his bed- which, granted, was something Kate should have expected from him. She'd refused, of course, though it was dangerously tempting. Instead, she'd settled for taking the top bunk bed in the same room, where she'd slept undisturbed for a full 12 hours.

The next day, when she'd learned that Michael had left, Kate had decided to keep the information away from Sawyer, afraid he would get some crazy notion of duty and head after him. At one point, weeks ago, the thought that Sawyer would display enough care for another being to act upon it would have seemed absurd to Kate. But after hearing the recollection of how Sawyer had been shot- the whole tale which made Kate sick- she doubted his liabilities and how far he'd go for simple revenge. Thinking back to the whole boar incident which had taken place long weeks ago, keeping the news from Sawyer seemed almost necessary to his recovery.

Thus, she'd continued to play nurse and Sawyer had continued to accept her help. Over the following hours, they had talked endlessly about the most random of things. She updated him on the other island happenings, filling in everything that had occurred since they'd launched the raft up until they'd come back. When she informed him of Shannon's death, Sawyer had questioned about Sayid's condition with open care. She had been amazed when his playful demeanor had shimmered down almost instantly afterwards, as if he was paying his respects.

Talking to him about everything that had happened was also a means for Kate to get everything that had been building up off her shoulders. Sawyer had always been the one person on the island she could freely talk to, though she'd until always covered that fact with an excuse. When he'd left, a part of her had been shut down. She had been forced back into her carefully constructed shell of lies and delusion.

Kate found herself surprised at how much she'd missed Sawyer's company. His sudden return at such a critical condition had been a big slap of reality. Up until they'd parted, Kate had been denying the growing feelings she was developing for him, mainly due to her own insecurities. Now that she had settled her demons, she was able to give into the fact that Sawyer was what she would always be attracted to. It was in her blood, in her inner being. It was destiny, if she believed in such a thing.

And while that fact still scared her, she didn't deny it anymore. She couldn't. At least now they had a chance.

Or she'd thought they had a chance. Until yesterday, when his mood had taken a downhill turn. News of Michael's actions had been slipped to him by someone passing through the hatch, and Sawyer had lashed out at Kate for keeping the information from him. Kate had attempted to give him his space after that, but she found it impossible to stay away once she'd gotten a taste for always being there. Holding a brick wall of sorts against his foul mood, she stuck by him as usual; bringing him food, making sure he took his medication, lugging him around the hatch for exercise. His condition was greatly improved now. His shoulder was healing well and the infection was passing. His arm would hurt for weeks to come, and he'd likely bear a scar for the rest of his life, but at least that life wouldn't be cut short this time around.

Last night was the first time that week he'd gone to bed without speaking to her. Kate had been shocked at how much that hurt her. Still, she refused to fall into his game and allow his behavior to impact her's. Eventually, he had to come around. And Kate would still be by his side.

Realizing that she had been standing there for close to an hour now, Kate cast a final look out across the beach. The remainder of the camp had withered away from the fire and everyone was now going about their daily morning activities. Kate sighed before turning and starting back towards the hatch. Sawyer would be waking soon and then the day would proceed uneventfully as usual.

But, of course, with Sawyer things never went according to plan.

---

Kate turned the corner and glanced at the counter offhandedly as it flipped to its 105th mark. She scanned the main quarters as she walked, wondering who had the next shift. As she calculated the schedule in her head, she came to the conclusion that it was Hurley's turn. There was also supposed to be a first-timer running the drill with him, and odds are he had forgotten or attempted to skip out on his duty. Kate smiled to herself and figured Hurley had gone down to the beach to hunt his partner down.

"Sawyer?" She called out softly as she entered the bedroom, noting quickly that he wasn't there. Frowning in confusion, she brought her hands up to rest on her hips. Her eyes wandered from the unmade bed to the small table beside it, which usually housed Sawyer's antibiotics. However, they were missing.

A distant shuffling of activity echoed through the hatch and Kate turned around towards the hallway. After a moment, she started after the noise.

The storage room door was open. Kate stepped through it and stopped instantly in her tracks. Sawyer stood a few feet ahead, digging through a box of leftover Dharma food. An open backpack lay at his feet.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked after a seemingly endless moment of silence, hoping against odds it wasn't what it looked like, though she feared she already knew the answer.

Sawyer uncovered a pack of nutrition bars and causally dropped them into his pack. This wasn't a spontaneous idea. He'd been planning it.

"Sawyer." She called out again, but he continued to ignore her.

"You're going after them, aren't you?" Kate accused, her voice betraying her worry. Finally, he spared her a sideways glance, his hair falling evenly over his face despite the haircut she'd given him two days ago. His cool blue eyes told her everything she needed to know before he looked away and continued preoccupying himself with scouting through the supplies in the box.

Kate felt her temper bubble as she stepped forward. "Sawyer, you're still recovering from being shot. You can't be serious."

He let out a sharp breath, a sound of frustration. It made Kate even madder. What right did he have to be frustrated?

She stepped up beside him and put a hand on his good arm, violently turning him towards her. "What the hell is the matter with you? You nearly died out there the first time around and now you're heading back?"

He regarded her carefully but still said nothing. With a sinking feeling, Kate realized she wouldn't convince him out of this plan. His mind was set and whether this was out of some noble sense of pride or a ridiculous death wish he so obviously wanted fulfilled, there was no stopping him. As desperation set deep into her thoughts, Kate reached struggled for a way out. Perhaps a more direct approach would work.

"I'm going with you, then."

Finally, he reacted, though not like she expected. He flashed her one of those rare, honest smile. The ones that reached his eyes and made him look almost nice. "Figured you'd say that."

And then he brought his hands up behind her, pushing one to the small of her back and the pressing the other through her hair and against neck. She hardly had the time to register this turn of events as his mouth crashed against hers, his tongue inviting itself past her lips and instantly deepening the kiss. She fell into the action instinctively, and for the second time she found herself taken by Sawyer's annoying perfected kissing abilities. Her hands had traveled up to rest against his chest, perhaps initially intending to push him back, but the notion had been forgotten shortly after.

Just as her head was starting to spin from a lack of oxygen, Sawyer pulled back. He stared at her sadly as she attempted to catch her breath. Suddenly, she realized he was speaking.

"Good bye, Freckles."

The words seemed foreign, and by the time they made sense, he had walked out the room.

"Sawyer." Kate started after him, but the door closed shifty before she reached it. As she reached for the handle, a light click made her heart skip a beat. Jiggling the doorknob, her fears were confirmed. For the second time now, she was locked in the storage.

"Damn it, Sawyer!" She yelled, pounding against the heavy door. She heard his footsteps fade away but she continued to beat against the metal. A full minute passed before she stopped, her hands throbbing.

Turning around, her eyes instantly sought out the vent that had been her escape the first time she found herself in this predicament. With a stab of dread, she remembered that Locke had drilled the cage shut a few days after they'd found the hatch with the intent that if they ever needed to keep someone confined in the room, there would be no easy way out.

Swallowing the growing lump in her throat, Kate slide down to the ground and pressed her head into her hands. Hurley was bound to come down in an hour or so to take over button duty. She was left with no choice but to wait for him.

Once she got out of here, as if history deemed repeating, she'd go after Sawyer before he had a chance to get himself lost. Or worse.

And if she found him in one piece, she was _so _going to kick his ass.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hey, look! An update :) Figured since today's the first of 6 long, Lost-less Wednesdays, this might help ease the withdrawal. Thanks for reading, guys! This chapter's a bit shorter then the first, but things will pick up soon!

---

It was an unnervingly chilly morning. The sun had barely begun its ascent over the horizon, casting a soft purple pink light over the clouded sky. It was now early December and Sawyer offhandedly wondered if the temperature on the island would continue to steadily dip. Even if he knew anything about conditions in tropical regions, he figured this place wouldn't abide by the rules.

It was taking him longer then expected to get through to the beach, though that was probably his own fault. Someone had had the decency to beat down a visible path leading the way from the hatch entrance straight to the main camp, but Sawyer had to take it slow. He wasn't always man of bright ideas, though he had a feeling this one especially would come back and bite him in the ass. He'd yet to regain his full strength and there was a good chance the journey that awaited him would end badly, but it was a risk he willingly took. Even if this time around he had a reason to stay, his ego wouldn't allow him to openly admit it. The part of him that screamed for vengeance couldn't be settled.

The crashing of waves echoed through from a clearing in the brush up ahead. Stepping out of the trees, Sawyer's eyes scanned the desolated shore. He subconsciously noted that this was his first time back on the beach since they'd left on the raft nearly two weeks ago.

In the near distance, he saw what was left of his old shelter. The tarp had been removed, having probably been put to better use now, and all that remained was the plane fragments he'd set up as walls. The seat section that had served as his bed was also gone, and whatever piled luggage was leftover from his collecting sprees had long been cleared out. Kate had brought the few clothes he had left behind to the hatch before he'd gained consciousness and she'd later informed him that his hoard had become public property once he'd left. This fact hadn't angered him as much as it once would have, but Sawyer had still played off the information with a snide remark and he'd made an act of sulking for a while, though that had quickly passed.

Stopping a moment to even out his breathing, Sawyer leaned against a tree and sighed. So much had changed in so little time. If those bastards hadn't taken Walt and shot him, they very well could have been off the island now. Sawyer suddenly found himself questioning what life he had awaiting him back "in the real world." Would he have been regarded as a hero or would his past crimes have instantly caught up to him and landed him a one-way ticket to jail? And what about Kate? Had getting on the raft really been her one final chance of escape? Would he have been indirectly responsible for ruining her life?

Maybe everyone had a dark past waiting to catch up to them once they left the island. Maybe things were better this way.

"Try tellin' that to Mike," Sawyer muttered to himself. His mind flashed to Shannon and Boone, and all the others who'd suffered similar fates since crashing here. Were they better off as well?

As his thoughts continuing to wander, a heavy shifting broke the otherwise silent environment. It took Sawyer a moment to pinpoint the sound, which was being made by none other than Vincent, who sat watching the Southerner with one of those honest expressions of curiosity. Sawyer regarded the Labrador for a moment before speaking again, this time to the dog.

"Beginnin' to think you're quite a menace, Yeller." Vincent's ears perked at the sound of his voice, and Sawyer fought the silly notion that the mutt actually understood him. "Or at best, a load of bad luck. With your last few owners all up'n disappearin' under your nose."

The dog's tail thumped slowly against the ground, unsettling the sandy grass mixture that he sat upon. Sawyer noted he was tied to a large piece of wreckage, with bowl made from half a coconut stationed to the side and filled with water. He wondered who was looking after him now that Michael had taken off as well, but he didn't allow himself to linger on the thought long. Why did he suddenly care?

"Well," he pulled himself away from the tree and took a step forward, "off I go. Got some scores to settle." Pausing in front of Vincent briefly, he reached over and gave the dog a pat on the head. "Who knows? Might run into your old man and bring'm back to ya. Hell, maybe he even found his kid and they'll both walk out the magic forest right as rain any moment now." Vincent arched his head to lick Sawyer's hand and the man didn't bother concealing a grin. "Yeah, that'd be a long shot." He let a moment of silence pass before running his hand down against his shirt to clear it of dog drool. He spared Vincent another bemused look before commencing his trip.

"Dude." He'd hardly gotten three steps before the familiar voice stopped him. Not bothering to hide the groan that made its way up from the pit of his stomach, Sawyer looked over at Hurley as he made his way towards him. "Looks like Elvis has left the hatch."

Sawyer smiled forcefully. "Funny." He attempted to dodge past him but Hurley stopped directly in his path, blocking his direct escape. There was another man traveling behind him and Sawyer noted that he seemed vaguely familiar. He was tall and lanky with floppy red hair, a bad case of acne and scared green eyes. Sawyer was sure he'd threatened the guy's life at least once.

"Oh, that's Billy." Hurley stated offhandedly, as if Sawyer had asked.

"Bobby," the redhead corrected, his voice alarmingly shaky. He sounded (and, oddly enough, looked) like a young boy just starting his bumpy ride through puberty, though he was most likely in his mid-20s. Sawyer held back an eye roll.

"Sorry man." Hurley turned back to Sawyer. "It's his first time running a button shift. I get to show him the ropes."

"Lucky you." Sawyer readjusted the backpack he was carrying, cringing slightly as a tingle of burning pain raced through his arm. He turned his attention back to Hurley, figuring he'd make the best of the situation at hand. "You see which way the doc and his team went?"

The larger man blinked at him, having enough brains to figure something fishy was going on. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

Sawyer sighed. He was hoping this wouldn't get too difficult. "They forgot some supplies at the hatch. Figured I'd catch up to them before they all walked off to their impending deaths." He'd fallen into the lie easily, though he could have used a more convincing excuse. Since when was he Mr. Handyman?

"That doesn't sound like something you'd do." Hurley commented with a disbelieving laugh. Sawyer felt his patience ticking away. He didn't really have to put up with this. It couldn't be _that _hard tracking a whole group of people through the jungle.

"Look, forget it." He started walking again. "Thanks for the chitchat, Porky."

"Hey," Hurley called and Sawyer stopped despite himself. He wondered briefly if Hurley was going to give him a lecture on manners. Turning slightly to regard the other man over his shoulder, he waited with growing dread.

"They went through there." Hurley pointed towards a patch of trees about 20 feet away. Sawyer fought back a cocky smile at the pleasant surprise and continued walking without another word. He was staging a clean escape until Hurley's voice called back to him once more. "Does Kate know about this?"

Sawyer tried not to let his stride betray him, but the brief hesitation in his step was enough of a give away. He carried on without answering, hoping Hurley would just figure he hadn't heard the question. A moment later, he had entered the shady woods and was out of sight.

"I think... I'm going to regret that." Hurley commented to himself, glancing back to Bobby, who had silently watched the whole exchange. Hurley sighed and waved a hand, bidding his nervous comrade to follow as he turned towards the path that'd lead them to the hatch.

---

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

Kate's eyes shot open as the familiar hollow noise sounded through the door, filling the dimly lit room with a dull, repetitive echo. A moment later, it was replaced by the faint shuffled clicking of the counter resetting back to its original time, only to start winding down again.

Kate blinked and glanced around the storage, taking a moment to let her mind catch up on what was happening. As everything came back, she pushed herself off the floor and muttered a curse. How the hell could she have fallen asleep?

"Hey, Hurley. You there?" She stepped towards the door and pounded her fist against it a few times before stopping to listen. Sure enough, a pair of muffled footsteps started on the other side of the wall.

"Kate?" He asked with reserved uncertainty, as if afraid his mind was playing tricks on him.

"Yeah, it's me. Let me out." Kate ordered, her voice notably bordering control. She held her breath until the lock clicked and the door swung open.

"What're you doing in there?" Hurley asked, peering behind her to see if she was alone. Kate mumbled a word of thanks- ignoring his question- and sped past him, feebly scanning the hatch for any sign of Sawyer. Her eyes strayed briefly on the young man who was staring at her from the doorway leading to the computer area, but she didn't spare him a second's thought as she turned back to Hurley.

"You seen Sawyer?" She demanded, already calculating how much time had passed since he'd left her in the storage room and how far he could have possibly gotten in his condition.

"Uh, yeah. He was at the beach about half an hour ago." Hurley knew this couldn't end well, so he said no more.

Kate caught on to his ignorant tactic. She shot him an exasperated look and urged his story on, her foot tapping rhythmically against the concrete ground. "Did he say anything?"

"Well, he asked about Jack and the search party. Where they were going and stuff." Again, Hurley avoided the inevitable point. He shifted slightly and threw a look at Bobby (or was it Billy?), who was still standing a few feet off, watching the drama unfold with an interested but fearful expression; like a random pedestrian observing a morbid car accident.

"Let me guess. You told him?" Kate brought her hands to her hips and sighed, snapping Hurley's attention back to her. This had made things a notch harder. If Sawyer knew exactly where he was going, he was probably already quite ahead. On the other hand, he would hopefully be easier to hunt down. And Kate would make sure to catch up to him quickly; payback was indeed a bitch.

"I... might have let it slip." Hurley finally spoke, letting the words come out slowly as he inadvertently took a step back.

Kate had to fight back a smile despite the situation. The fact that Hurley had always been outwardly fearful of her fugitive status was oddly amusing.

"Bad move." She commented drily, mulling her next course of action over. She had no choice but to go after Sawyer. He was going to get himself killed out there alone.

Not sparing Hurley another word, she strode past him, towards the bedroom, and located her backpack by the dresser. As she hastily tossed a change of clothes in it, her eyes scanned the room and again settled on the counter that should've held Sawyer's pills. Thankfully, it seemed he'd remembered to take them.

Turning her attention to Jack's medical bag- which had been stationed on a chair in the room since Sawyer was brought back to camp- Kate fished out a roll of gauze and a half-empty bottle of peroxide, just in case. Hopefully no one back here would need them.

Dumping the supplies in her bag and swinging it over her shoulder, she once again made her way through the hallway. Hurley stood right where she'd left him, watching her speed around in state of growing bewilderment. Kate walked right past the storage, going against her better judgment and not stopping to pack some food. She could always gather some fruit in the jungle, but if she wasted any more time now, the results could be fatal.

Without saying anything else, Kate headed towards the ammunition compartment. One of her hands wrapped around a shotgun while the other pocketed a box of ammo, both actions going about without any serious thought behind them. Hurley and Bobby exchanged equally frightened looks as Kate disappeared around the corner a moment later, only daring to move once the hatch door squeaked shut.

"Sorry you had to see that, dude." Hurley stated a full minute later, attempting to brighten the mood. "She's just having a bad day."

"What's she like on her good days?" The red-haired man managed after a moment, his droopy hair sweeping across his face as he shifted around.

Hurley blinked as he struggled for a truthful answer. "Pretty much the same, actually." He stated cheerfully.

Bobby's green eyes widened a notch and Hurley let out a nervous laugh.

Eventually, an awkward silence settled in as they stared down the hallway Kate had disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Postin' in a hurry so if I skipped a typo or something, yeah. Again, thanks for sticking with the story! This chapter's kind of dull, granted it's a load of walking through the jungle. But... Bear with me! I do have an eventual point ;)

---

Sawyer grumpily pushed aside a particularly low branch as he reminded himself for the dozenth time that morning how bad an idea this was. The weather had gone from being slightly cold to uncomfortably humid in a manner of hours, which had forced Sawyer into walking even slower than he was at first. The thick air not only made it harder to breathe but it also seemed to bother his shoulder wound. It hadn't needed bandaging for a day now but the raw skin was annoyingly itchy and Sawyer had to keep fighting to urge to scratch it down to the bone. Jack had informed him that the discomfort was a sign of healing, but Sawyer almost preferred the old fashioned pain.

He'd probably been walking for close to three hours now, but it hadn't gotten him too far. He tired easily and had to rest every few minutes. And it didn't help that the search party had picked the toughest trail to follow, straight through the thickest and wildest section of the jungle.

Sawyer found himself wondering once more exactly why he was doing this. He refused to admit that even a small part of him was remotely worried about Michael and wanted to pitch in with finding him and his boy. Instead, he blamed his fueled will on the simple act of revenge; he wanted the satisfaction of getting his hands on the assholes who'd shot him and he planned on enjoying every moment of bashing their faces in (though, granted, it would probably cause him more pain than pleasure in his given situation, but that was besides the point.)

His thoughts turned to Kate, which was not surprising given the fact that she invaded his mind a lot lately.

He wondered if someone had let her out of the storage yet. More so, he hoped someone had. On the off-chance that she was still locked in there, Sawyer found himself suddenly wondering if it was possible to suffocate in that room? He quickly reasoned himself out of that idea, though it was hard to keep it from lingering in the back of his mind. To ease his worry (not that he was worried, of course), he reminded himself that there was food left in the boxes they kept there, should Kate have gotten hungry.

But what about water? _Damn it_, he should have left her some. People could live longer without food than water, right?

_Quit bein' stupid_, again Sawyer found himself screaming at himself within his head. Kate was probably safely out and about by now. Someone was bound to have been down to the hatch to push the damned button, and Kate likely hadn't taken to her imprisonment quietly so her presence there would have been made known instantly. There was no way she was still stuck in there.

Which brought him to another nagging question; what was she up to now? Probably pacing the camp thinking up of painful ways to kick his ass when (_if_, his mind corrected) he returned. Sawyer smirked at the thought.

Another small and almost wishful part of him wondered if she was possibly coming after him? Sawyer mentally kicked himself the moment the thought arose. Even if the notion was awfully flattered, he didn't really want her out here, did he? He wasn't exactly going for a picnic.

And, come on. No way was she coming after him.

Yet, he lingered on the thought that Kate might actually be worried about him. She seemed to express concern during their brief meeting before he'd left her in the storage. Before he'd kissed her (to which, Sawyer noted, she hadn't objected.)

The past few days seemed unreal as he looked back on them now. The normalcy of spending hours together, talking and joking like old-time friend and sharing odd tidbits with each other; things that neither had probably ever bothered discussing with others, off or on the island. At first, Sawyer had figured she was sticking by him because of a sense of guilt or duty, and he'd taken advantage of the situation nevertheless. After all, he wouldn't be himself if he didn't admit to enjoying the attention.

But as time passed, he had begun doubting Kate's motives. He was usually good at reading her- at knowing when she was being honest or not. And something about her, when she was around him, seemed natural. Only that didn't make the least bit of sense.

They hadn't spoken about the way they'd parted; his public announcement of Kate's fugitive status or the good-bye they never truly shared. Both of them dared not approach the topic in fear of ruining whatever kinship they had started.

Of course, Sawyer being Sawyer, was the one to break the unspoken truce when he'd gotten whiff of the whole Michael situation. He cringed now as he remembered how brutal he was towards her for a while after he'd picked up the news. And the oddest thing to come out of it was the fact that she'd stayed around him even after that. Not like the time, many weeks ago, when she'd uncovered the secret behind his letter. He'd chased her away easily then.

So what had changed?

_"And every time I look at Sawyer... Every time I feel something for him..."_

The words replayed, crisp and clear in his head. A smile tugged on his lips as he remembered her speaking them definitively. He had mulled them over at least once every hour since he'd woken that day, yet they still seemed foreign. Their meaning still seemed impossible to comprehend.

And he still wanted to know who the hell Wayne was.

But he figured he'd never get the answers. And despite his curiosity, he didn't dare admit he was afraid of the truth. Afraid of what it would mean.

Having been so caught up in his thoughts, Sawyer had totally forgotten to watch where he was walking. Something caught his foot and he stumbled. Propping his hand against a nearby tree to keep from falling, he was repaid with a sharp bolt of pain racing through his shoulder.

_"Son of a..." _The trademark phrase was left unfinished as Sawyer righted himself, tossing his head back to clear the hair from his eyes. He'd bitched about the length when Kate had cut his hair a few days ago, but she'd refused to go any shorter, stating that he'd look too_ nice _for his own good. He chuckled to himself now, remember her lighthearted attitude throughout that whole scene; the full, honest laughter she used in response to his complaints and always-witty remarks. Sawyer didn't like to flatter himself, but he swore she only used that laugh with him. And something inside him was insanely proud of the fact that only he could make her smile so that reached her eyes. It always stole his breath away.

Spotting a large boulder, half-covered in moss and almost comically placed amidst the otherwise woody background, Sawyer figured it was a good a time as any for another break. He made his way through the tangly low-growing plants and to the rock, using his good arm to slide his backpack off his shoulder. He let out a sigh as he dropped his bag on the boulder and ran a hand across his forehead, where sweat was starting to perspire.

Fishing a bottle of water out of his stuff, Sawyer gulped down a few mouthfuls, allowing the cool liquid to quench not only his thirst but replenish his strength. He regarded the sky carefully, noting that the sun had yet to reach its midday mark. He would rest for 10-15 minutes, tops, then continue on.

What Sawyer hadn't noticed, however, was that the tracks of the search party he'd been following had long disappeared.

---

Kate was stomping. She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that she should be more careful with the manner in which she walked, but she couldn't help it. Instead of worrying about discretion, she busied herself by thinking up of varied ways she'd make Sawyer pay for putting her through this.

A thorny bush caught onto her pant leg and sliced a messy gash down its side as she stormed past it. Kate peered down at the hole, humorously thinking that these were her favorite pants as she cursed the bush, pinning the blame on it for being in the way.

A minute later, when a loose rock gave under her weight, causing her to trip, she cursed it too. How dare it not only disturb her path but also have the nerve not to hold its footing?

A while later, when nature started behaving, her thoughts drifted to Sawyer. She cursed him for being an idiot, though she secretly expected nothing else.

Not to fall behind, she cursed herself for caring enough about Sawyer's idiocy to send her dashing through the jungle of so called mystery.

And, finally- just for good measure- she cursed Jack and the fact that they didn't measure up to each other's standards, because surely he would have been an easier man to love.

_Love_? Kate came to a complete halt as she realized what she had been thinking. She did _not _love Sawyer, the rational section of her mind quickly countered. She obviously cared for his well-being, yes, but that was _only _due to the fact he'd just been knocking on door's death and there was a very real danger that he could relapse while wandering the jungle. And she could admit to the notion that maybe, _just maybe_, she was starting to like him just a_ tiny bit_, but _only _as a fellow human being and perhaps down the road, a friend. And all of that sure as hell wasn't accounting to "love."

_At least not any time soon,_ the other half of her mind piped in, much to Kate's dismay.

Having satisfying convinced herself out of the momentary lapse of insanity, Kate resumed walking. She'd gotten all of two feet ahead when she noticed what seemed like the trail splitting. She stopped and stared at the ground, which most clearly forked into two. One side was beaten down by the weight of at least half a dozen people, while the other was a patch of tall weeds which were parted lightly, most likely by one person alone.

Kate's jaw clenched as she regarded the two paths. It was obvious which way Jack's party had went, but did the other trail belong to Sawyer? Or had someone from the original group taken a different route? That didn't make sense, but neither did Sawyer starting off in a completely different direction.

On second though, who was she kidding. The latter choice made painfully perfect sense.

Kate fought an annoyed smile and took a step towards the grassier area, hesitantly looking down the other path for a moment before continuing walking. Apparently, "idiot" didn't begin to describe what Sawyer was.

---

His fifteen minutes were up, but he didn't rush to move. Something about this section of the jungle was oddly captivating. Perhaps because it was so isolated, so _wild_. Unmarred by humans and possibly unknown to anyone but him.

And, subconsciously, Sawyer knew something was wrong, but he couldn't quite place it.

Not until he heard it; a soft, chilling echo of whispers, barely audible though somehow clear as day. It was almost like the wind carried them, which would have been logical if there was any wind to begin with. Yet the forest remained unnervingly quiet, no twigs snapping or leaves rustling. Sawyer listened, attempting to distinguish the voices. Perhaps it was Jack and his team? Could they have been coming back so soon?

_No_, this didn't sound human. Yet it _was_. Or at least, it had to be.

Sawyer's mind flashed back to the only other time he'd heard something like this. That day the blasted boar had attacked him.

_"It'll come back around."_

He heard the phrase clearly, though it was just a memory within his head. This time, the voices merged together almost melodically. No word stood out alone. What they were saying didn't make sense.

A patch of bushes shook to the left, and Sawyer's head snapped in their direction. Before he could start towards the sound, something shifted else from a few feet off in the opposite side.

Sawyer froze, straining to hear. He realized suddenly that the whispering had seized, replaced now by an engulfing silence.

A hollow _crack _traveled through the air, now coming from straight ahead. Sawyer squinted his eyes and scanned the trees, but green and brown blended without disturbance against occasional patches of blue sky.

Then he caught it. Unmistakable footsteps. A lone pair. Hasty and sloppy. Coming closer.

Snatching his backpack off the boulder, Sawyer ducked behind one of the wider trees and pressed his back against it.

He waited.

---

Her previous strut had been reduced to a sluggish walk now that she had to struggle through the wilder grounds. Her anger at Sawyer was upped a notch (if that was even possible), but before she could reset her mind to plotting her own revenge against him, she registered a noise that stood out from the regular sounds of the jungle.

Fighting off an eerie sense of deja-vu, Kate stopped and listened. When a few seconds passed without any commotion, she continued forward. Then she heard it again.

"Sawyer?" She called out softly, despite seriously doubting it was really him. Something gave off an irritated snort.

She spun around, trying to locate whatever was causing the disturbance. It didn't take long for her to see it. Standing between a ripe berry bush and an old, fallen tree was a chubby, brownish-black boar.

Kate stared at it in disbelief. She hadn't seen a boar since...

_It can't be._ The size looked about right, but surely there were dozens of boars that looked just like this one, even if they hadn't ventured to these parts of the island in weeks. Plus, the last time she'd seen a boar- the time when she'd gone on the _other _mad dash through the forest with Sawyer- she'd been standing too far to get a good look at it.

This couldn't be the same one. Coincidence was obviously to blame for the encounter, though Kate still couldn't shake the funny feeling that this was some sort of sign.

The boar had been cautiously observing her, which in and of itself seemed slightly odd. Again, the only other time Kate had seen a boar being docile instead of openly charging was the time with Sawyer. But she wasn't a _boar expert_, as Sawyer had been quick to point out, so who was she to say what was "out of character" for the creature?

She shook her head, attempting to get her mind out of the twilight zone. The boar snorted again, perhaps startled by the movement, and Kate suddenly realized the danger she was in should the beast change its mind and attack. She carefully stepped back, keeping her eyes set on the animal. It returned the look, equally careful and mellow, then turned its head and took a casual mouthful of the berry bush that was growing beside it. Kate took another step back, watching the boar as it chewed slowly. Once she figured she was far enough to make a run for it if the need arose, she turned and kept walking without sparing a glance back.

Fighting her way through the undergrowth, Kate tried to keep her pace up while keeping taps on exactly which way she was heading. As she pushed the weird encounter she'd just undergone out of her head, she went back to thinking about the task at hand. She wasn't sure how much further Sawyer had gotten, but it would be very easy to get completely lost out here, especially given Sawyer's "tracking skills."

As she stumbled over a fallen branch, its sharp _crack _shot through the air. Kate slowed her jog and came to a stop yet again. She noted then that something wasn't right. It was too quiet.

A sudden, irrational fear jabbed at her gut and Kate's fugitive instincts took over automatically. She spun around once, taking in her environment and making sure nothing was following her. Then she continued, her breathing coming out in shorts pants and her steps thudding clumsily through the woods.

She'd gotten about 10 yards before another chill raced through her body, stopping her in her tracks. She felt like she was being watch. A bee buzzed somewhere in the distance, the sound frightfully loud in the otherwise dead silence.

A swelling pain in her chest reminded Kate that she was holding her breath, though the action hadn't been intentional. Letting it out slowly, her eyes darted around from tree to tree. _Stop being silly_, her mind attempted to rationalize, yet her blood continued to pump coldly through her veins.

Something clicked behind her and Kate turned around sharply.

It took her a second to realize she was staring at the barrel of a gun.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Happy rerun Wednesday! Not... Well, here's our midweek update. This chapter took a bit of a different course from the original plan, but it's all good. It worked out much better.

---

Once her eyes had focused on the weapon, Kate quickly shifted them to its bearer. Her hands found their way to her hips as she sighed in annoyance. She waited for the gun to be lowered.

When seconds ticked by and the seemingly reasonable action wasn't taken, Kate finally resorted to words. "You can put the gun down, you know."

Ana Lucia continued to stare at her intensely, her position unwavering the slightest bit. She nodded her head roughly at Kate, her expression characteristically smug. "What are you doin' out here?"

Kate started to reply, having some sarcastic comment about "taking a walk" set to cover up her true reasons for being out in the jungle, but her attention turned to something behind the other woman.

Before Ana had a chance to realize what was going on, a hand came up around her and snatched the gun. "She's with me." A voice whispered roughly, right above her ear, sending a chill down her spine. Not bothering to ask questions, Ana gabbed her elbow into whoever was leering over her.

"Damn it, woman," Sawyer growled as he recoiled a few steps, dropping the gun and pressing his hand to his stomach. He glared at her through his scruffy hair. "Don't you remember what I said about hittin' me again?" Though he attempted the line with an air of deviousness, the effect was dulled by his almost pitiful state.

Ana wasted no time in retrieving her firearm and starting after Sawyer threateningly. "Yeah, and what exactly are you gonna to do about it, tough guy?"

But she barely made it two steps. "Hey," instinctively turning around as Kate called her attention, Ana found a fist ramming itself into her jaw. She stumbled back into a tree as the world spun.

"Oh, now we're talkin'." Sawyer drawled as he regained his composure, miraculously cured from pain as a grin of amusement lightened his features. Kate glared at him as she shook her hand, ridding it of the slow throb earned from the punch. Ana was still leaning against the tree, her hand wiping a trail of blood that was seeping through her split lip. Slowly, she raised the gun towards Kate again.

"What's going on here?" Another voice broke the growing tension. All heads turned to Jack as he struggled his way through the thick ground vegetation and to Ana Lucia's side. His eyes traveled from her to Kate and then to Sawyer, a steady flash of emotions playing across his face. Shock, confusion, annoyance and anger. Trademark Jack expressions.

"And _now _it's a party." Sawyer commented, but the playful tone was gone from his voice. He shifted the pack he had slung on his shoulder, holding back a wince.

No one spoke for a while. Slowly, Ana lowered the gun and casually slide it halfway down the waistband of her jeans. She crossed her hands and inhaled sharply through her nose, waiting for someone to step up and explain exactly what was going on.

Jack took the bait. "Kate?" She looked at him carefully. "Can we have a word?" He gestured towards the trees on his right and Kate nodded, going against her usual counteractive instincts. Sending a warning look to Sawyer (one that clearly meant "_don't move_," on the off-chance he'd listen), she started in the direction Jack had pointed out. The doctor gave Sawyer a lingering look as well, then a more meaningful glance at Ana before he too turned and walked away.

Sawyer sighed as the leaders went off to privately conspire. He cast a wary sideways peer at women who had on more then one occasion been very blunt of her indifference towards whether he lived or died, offhandedly realizing that he was now left here alone with her. He wasn't too thrilled with being her only company, especially given the fact that she had a weapon and she was known to shoot first and ask questions later.

The silence stretched on.

"Nice weather for a stroll through the enchanted forest, ain't it?" Sawyer asked with a lopsided grin, finding himself unable to remain quiet for long. Sarcastic humor was his safety net.

Ana rolled her eyes and exhaled impatiently, choosing to ignore him completely.

_Okay then_. Two could play at that game.

"You and the doc stop for a quickie before continuin' the search?" He pressed on, his eyes glittering mischievously. Ana looked at him then, her eyes murderous. Now he was hitting a nerve. "Two damn months on this rock, I know how things go. And with all the trouble over on your side of the fence, who can blame ya for wantin' somethin' _good _finally..."

The female continued to stare him down but she wasn't biting. Sawyer was surprised. "You didn't deserve to live." She finally stated, her voice thick with disgust.

Sawyer chuckled. "Yeah, I get that a lot." His grin faded and Ana looked away. This obviously wasn't getting him anywhere.

"_Bitch_," Sawyer murmured to himself, though it was far from an unusual train of though. He noticed Ana's hand idly tapping the handle of her gun and wondered if it was supposed to be a threat or if it was just the lady's trigger-happy twitches. Not keen on staying and finding out which it was, he spared a glance towards the patch of woods Kate and Jack had disappeared behind before turning and walking off towards in the direction he'd been heading before this whole confrontation.

Perhaps he still stood a chance at a clean escape.

---

"What the _hell _are you doing, Kate?"

Well, he wasted no time getting down to business, that was for sure.

"Jack..."

"No, don't "Jack" me. Please." He ran a hand over his short hair, pacing back and forth a moment before stopping right in front of Kate and sending a disapproving glare at her. "Why did you bring Sawyer out here? Do you have _any _idea of the..."

"Hold on a second! I did _not _bring Sawyer anywhere." Kate was quickly losing her own patience. "You think I'd willing endanger him? And for what?" She took a step towards him, resisting the urge to punch him as well. Instead, she gathered her voice, willing herself to remain in control. "Who do you make me out to be?"

That did it. Jack clenched his jaw, preparing for the impending outburst. "That's the thing, Kate. I have no idea _who _or _what _you are. I don't know what lengths you'd go to if you want something done. And right when I think I have you figured out, you remind me that I don't know _anything _about you! So, tell me, Kate..."

She stood her ground, though her insides were twisting. "Tell you _what_?"

Jack stared at her in disbelief for what felt like minutes, though he barely allowed two seconds to pass before commencing his fueled speech. "Tell me how you came to be like this. Tell me if you feel any ounce of guilt or remorse at the way you manipulate everyone around you, getting them to _trust _you and then throwing that back in their faces. Tell me what, if _anything_, the past two months have meant for you. Tell me _what the hell _was going on through that head of yours in the jungle a few days ago... Tell me why you've been completely ignoring me since you _kissed me _and tell me why you're now parading the jungle with Sawyer, who, in case you'd forgotten, was practically _dead _last week." He stopped for a breath, and somewhere in the back of her mind, Kate commended him for being able to say all of that at once. "Take your pick, Kate, and _tell me_..."

She flinched, took a step back and coiled her hands around her, refusing to meet his eyes. Jack mentally kicked him self the moment he felt sorry for yelling. He hated how hard it was to keep reminding himself that this little lost girl routine was just that... An act.

Her voice sounded alarmingly distant when she finally spoke.

"I went back to the hatch this morning and I found Sawyer packing in the storage room. He locked me in there and then he left after your group. I don't know _why_." She quickly added upon feeling Jack's eyes questioningly wash over her. "Once Hurley let me out a while later, I came after him. Then I thought I heard something and suddenly your new _lapdog _was holding me at gunpoint. And, now, here we are."

Jack sighed, resuming his pacing. "That's all I get?"

He looked over and Kate met his eyes. Her gaze was cold. Jack realized suddenly that he'd lost his chance with her once and for all. She was way out of his league now. Perhaps she'd always been, but his stubborn need to fix everyone had been blinding him. But there was no denying it anymore.

"Okay." He admitted defeat, wiping his hand across his brow. He thought for a moment then spoke again, the calmness back in his voice. "We'll get Sawyer back and..."

"We?" Kate interjected, her tone edged.

"Yes, Kate, _we_. You're obviously incapable of keeping him under control."

Something within her exploded. "Incapable?" She felt like screaming, but she found herself at a loss for words.

Jack waited for her to argue, but she continued to gape at him.

After a long moment, she managed to speak. "What are you doing here, anyway? What happened to the rest of the search team?"

Jack flexed his jaw, unsure if he should allow the switch of topics. Finally, he gave in. They both needed to calm down. "We split up about an hour ago. Ana and I were backtracking a bit to take a detoured path when she thought she heard something and went to check it out."

Kate pondered this a moment. "You let her go off alone?"

Jack stared at her curiously, wondering what the point of this discussion was. "She's capable of taking care of herself."

"And I'm not." It was a mixture of question and statement, and it packed a punch. Jack sighed, now seeing what she was getting at.

"Kate..."

"No, Jack." She held up a hand, as if he was physically coming after her. "Like you said... Just _don't_."

A silence floated over them as they retreated into their thoughts. They both knew this discussion had held a double meaning. It was a huge turning point in whatever relationship they had been building. Jack had figured their "post-kiss" talk would make or break them, but he hadn't expected this to be the outcome. Kate, on the other hand, had. Subconsciously, that's why she'd been postponing the inevitable.

Eventually she trusted herself to talk again. "I'll bring Sawyer back to camp, okay?" She wasn't really asking for permission, yet she couldn't bear leaving them on hostile ground. Jack hesitated. "I've got it, Jack. You have more important things to be doing." She swallowed. "Please."

Since she wasn't really giving him a choice, Jack nodded. They both knew he'd agree. He always did.

"Thank you." Kate breathed in relief, starting back towards where they'd left Ana and Sawyer. She glanced at Jack when he didn't immediately follow. "Coming?"

"No, I'll wait here." Jack forced a brief smile.

Kate nodded then paused again. Jack was still watching her. "Be careful out there."

He smiled again, honestly this time, and tipped his head in agreement. Kate felt a weight left off her chest. She watched Jack for a moment, wondering if this was the way things were supposed to be, and then continued walking.

Now came the real difficult task.

---

Ana Lucia stood where she'd been left leaning against the tree, playing with the clip of her gun. _Click_. She unloaded it. _Click_. She set it back.

"Jack's waiting for you." Kate stated with a tone of indifference as she entered the clearing. Ana's eyes traveled up to her. She pushed herself off the tree and started towards Kate. As she passed, Kate found herself thoughtlessly speaking. "You should watch it with that gun. We wouldn't want anymore _accidents_."

Ana froze and turned around slowly. She took a breath, perhaps fighting the urge to blow Kate's head off right then and there. Kate almost smirked. This was oddly fun.

"Look," the other women began. "I know me and you are destined not to like each other, but..."

"Where's Sawyer?" Kate cut her off, having just glanced around to locate the Southerner, expecting him to have both an amused grin and a witty remark set. But he was nowhere to be seen.

Ana didn't answer. She seemed annoyed that her big bad speech was cut short so rudely.

"_Where is he_?" Kate replied, bringing her eyes over to her adversary, openly challenging her _not _to answer.

Finally, Ana shrugged. "He took off right after you and Jack left."

Kate's eyes widened slightly, her temper returning full-force. "And you _let _him?"

"I ain't his mother." The reply came easily.

Kate swallowed, weighing her options. Beat that smug look off Ana Lucia's face or go after Sawyer, again, before he got too far, and fulfill her earlier need to kick _his _ass.

Sighing, Kate turned and started off in her previous direction in a brisk walk, not wasting another look back.

---

Well, she'd come after him. Sawyer would be lying if he said he wasn't pleasantly surprised. He'd secretly hoped she would, yet he hadn't really wanted it. Nor had he really _expected _it. And now, he felt slightly annoyed. Was this what women reduced men to?

Not that it mattered now, of course. She was likely going to continue on with Saint Jack now. Or at least he'd make her go back to camp. No chance in hell the good doctor would let his leading lady (or at least, his _original _leading lady) wander on through the woods unattended.

"Sawyer!"

Great. To top it all off, he was hearing things again. And of course his conscious had to take on _her _voice.

"Sawyer! Slow down, will you?" _Okay_, this was odd. His conscious wasn't supposed to be manifesting itself as her as well.

He glanced over his shoulder and slowed down as Kate struggled to catch up to him. Once she had, he smiled, pleasantly surprised for the second time that hour.

"Somethin' you need, sweetheart?"

Kate swallowed, getting her pants of air under control before laughing humorlessly.

"No more games, Sawyer. We're going back to camp."

His smile lingered. "That so?"

Kate straightened her posture and nodded. "Yes, that's so."

They continued to stare at each other for a moment, then Sawyer shook his head.

"Get out of here, Freckles." He turned and started walking again.

She blinked, not exactly sure why she was so startled by his resistance. Something about the way he'd said that... She quickly jogged after him.

"I'm not kidding, Sawyer. Jack said..."

"Don't care what _Jack _said."

Now he was testing her patience. She knew very well what he was doing. Trying to annoy her enough that she'd go away. But it wasn't happening.

"I know you don't, but I do. And I didn't need him telling me that it's dangerous for you to be out here. But he did." She was rambling. "_And _he entrusted me with bringing you back, so you kind of owe me for sparing you from one of his lectures."

Sawyer peered back at her in amusement. "Well, golly. Seems you're gonna have to disappoint your boyfriend on my account. 'Cause I ain't goin' back."

Something in Kate's jaw twitched, but she continued walking briskly beside him. Tiring of this silly chase, she reached a hand forward and placed it on his good arm. To her surprise, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Sawyer," she began carefully, and he turned to look at her. "_Please_." Kate felt her voice threatening to crack, and she wondered exactly when she'd gotten so emotional. It had worked in convincing Jack before (even though that had been more of an act to get her way), but somehow she knew Sawyer would be immune.

"I gotta do this, Kate." Hearing her name coming from his lips was like a physical blow. Her hand lifted from his forearm and she stared at him helplessly. He smiled again but it didn't reach his eyes. Then he turned around and continued to walk.

"Back at the hatch... You kissed me." Kate hated herself for speaking the moment the words left her mouth. Why had that simple statement sounded so accusing? And where had it come from? Why now?

But it worked in stopping Sawyer. "Yeah, I did." He turned and gave her an unreadable look, then ran a hand through his hair before letting it drop down to his side again, clearly annoyed by the course this discussion was taking. "What of it?"

Kate willed herself not to say anything else, but her brain had other plans. "_Why_?" She felt like she was watching this interaction play out onscreen. Like it wasn't really her talking to Sawyer, but some stranger who had invaded her body and left Kate to watch from the sidelines as her life was tampered with. What the hell was going on with her?

Sawyer didn't speak right away. His eyes shifted from the ground to the trees to the sky, making a point to avoid looking at her. A second later, just like that, their gazes were locked. Kate could feel her heart pulsing in her neck. Her hands felt sweaty. Why was she so scared of his answer?

"Didn't want any regrets this time." The blunt honesty behind that answer wiped all of Kate's thoughts clean. She couldn't move; couldn't pull her eyes away. "In case I didn't come back."

Her mouth was awfully dry and she absurdly wished she had a beer. Oddly enough, she didn't even like beer, though she always drank it when she was younger. It made her feel in control of her life. Made her feel capable.

Sawyer seemed to be waiting for a reply. When nothing came, a moment of hurt seemed to flash through his eyes, but he blinked and it was replaced by the coldness that Kate was all too familiar with. "Sawyer." She finally managed, wanting desperately to go up to him. Her feet refused to move.

His head cocked steadily to the side, stranded locks of hair dividing his forehead into uneven parts. They stared each other down evenly, the jungle melting away around them. The silence stretched on until he spoke again.

"We better get moving." It was as good an invitation as he was going to give her.

Kate nodded as he turned and commenced walking. It took her a few more seconds for her body to finally respond. She trailed after him, her mind still blank.

Jack was going to give her hell for this, and she really couldn't have cared less.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Yikes. Sorry for the long wait, guys. I should've mentioned last update that my finals were concluding and I would be leavin' on vacation. As of Saturday, I've been back in NYC (stranded with nothing to do most of the time 'cause of the blasted transit strike, but yeh) and with no Internet connection. Today, I chilled at the Spa my mother heads, so I got to tap into their wireless and here I am with this update. Next week we'll be moving into our Indianapolis apartment, so I should have Internet by sometime before the new year. And hopefully I'll have an update set by then :) For now, happy holidays and all that good stuff!

(Oh, and my attention span's been kind of limited, so please point out any typos I might've overlooked in this chapter.)

---

She had been following Sawyer for about an hour before she'd trusted herself to speak again. He had instantly taken on a predictably hostile attitude towards the light conversation she kept starting up, yet due to her persistence, they had managed to continue talking through the midday mark. As they fell into their familiar spurts of causal chitchat (_okay_, they weren't all too familiar, but since Sawyer had come back, Kate had gotten use to them rather quickly), his attitude had slowly simmered down.

Now that they had gone back into a comfortable air of mutual existence, Kate had to admit the trip wasn't all that bad, given the circumstances under which it was being conducted. The jungle hadn't gotten any wilder, and the ground was getting easier to maneuver now that they had adapted to it. It was still hot and sticky, but the shade cast by the trees made it bearable. And it was soothingly quiet, apart from the rustling they caused as they traveled and the random chirping of birds or insects.

But good things were doomed to never last, so Kate had but a second's hesitation before concluding her past hour's worth of stalling.

"Why are we out here, Sawyer?" She tried her luck asking the question that had been prodding at her brain all day.

He quickened his pace right away, either with a false hope that he'd get far enough ahead to lose her, or as a sign of annoyance. (Knowing him, it was a steady mix of both.)

"I asked you a question." Kate stated calmly, watching him try and disappear into the trees. He exhaled, loudly, but uttered no other sound.

Kate sighed and sped her own walking up, not about to give him the satisfaction of some extra space. Right when she was giving up on getting an answer, Sawyer spoke.

"I'm out here on business." He glanced back and smiled at her. "You're out here 'cause you're _annoying_."

She almost laughed. "No, Sawyer. I'm out here so you don't get yourself killed this time around."

"Oh, so now you care?" He rounded on her, forcing her to stop to avoid ramming into his chest. He didn't sound angry anymore, but slightly amused. And curious, though it was a twisted kind of curiosity. It took her a moment to realize what the "now" was referring to, but she slowly recalled their previous jungle outing and how Sawyer had called her on "caring" back then as well. Of course, she'd denied it, both to him and to herself.

Noting that he was still waiting for some kind of answer, Kate sighed, not up to playing along. "Do you even have to ask?" She stared at him steadily and his smile grew into a satisfied grin. Then he chuckled. Of course he didn't _have _to ask, but it was fun milking this newfound side of Kate for all it was worth.

Turning around, Sawyer nodded at something ahead of them. "Looks like the jungle's breakin' up ahead." She was relieved for the swift change of topic.

Nodding, Kate took the lead. Sawyer let her get a few steps ahead before starting after her. She pondered these actions, having thought that he would disapprove of being the follower all of a sudden. Peeking back, she noticed his eyes firmly planted on her behind; a sly grin marring his features. He looked up at her, suddenly realizing he was caught red-handed, and he uttered a shocked "what?" Kate merely rolled her eyes and turned back around, pushing a patch of low branches aside and deliberately letting them fly back and smack Sawyer in the chest as he trailed behind her.

As she led the way into the clearing (a fairly large and seemingly circular patch of land covered in knee-high weeded grasses and surrounded on all sides by the jungle), Kate felt his eyes on her again. This time, she spoke out.

"Stop doing that." Her voice was edgy, and it surprised her. Why was she so bothered by being "checked out" all of a sudden? And by Sawyer, at that. She should have been more than use to it.

"Doin' what?" Sawyer replied innocently. She cast him a pointed look over her shoulder.

"Staring at me."

He smirked. "Can't help it. There's a lot to stare at."

Unsure if she should take that as a compliment or not, Kate sighed and turned back to watch where she was going (not that there was much in the way, but she didn't want to embarrass herself by tripping over a stick or falling into a boar wallow. Sawyer would've gotten too much of a kick out of either one happening... Especially if the latter involved mud.)

"You always so insecure 'round guys you've kissed?" Sawyer inquired a moment later, pulling her out of her thoughts. "_Twice_," he added, almost nostalgically.

Kate rolled her eyes but didn't look back. "I'm not insecure." Her defensiveness would have suggested otherwise. "And if my memory serves me well, you practically forced me into both those kisses."

He was grinning now. She could hear it in his voice. "But you didn't exactly object either time, now did ya?"

_Damn it_,he had her there. Before she could come up with a plausible reply, she heard his footsteps slow and then come to a stop. She turned around to see what was the matter.

"Why are we stopping?" Kate glanced around the meadow, looking for anything that might have brought about the pit stop. Sawyer dropped his backpack and tipped his head left and then right, stretching his neck.

"Thought you could use a break." He crouched down and produced his water bottle, unscrewing the cap and taking a deep drink.

Kate held back a smile, knowing Sawyer meant that _he _was tired and that _he _wanted to rest, though he would never admit it to her. Deciding to let it go without commenting (after all, he'd just saved her from pushing the previous discussion onto dangerous territory), she slid her own pack off her shoulder and settled down next to it. She waited for Sawyer to finish drinking before speaking.

"How's your shoulder?"

He turned to glare at her.

"Fine."

She cast her eyes upward, regarding the vast sky before bringing them back down on him. "Can I see it?"

That earned her a grin. "Depends what you mean by 'it' of course."

This time, she sighed. Why did he always have to play games? "You know what I mean, Sawyer."

His grin faded. "Well then..." He paused for apparent dramatic effect. "Nope."

"Sawyer..."

"Told ya I'm fine." His voice was rising. Kate bit her lip and Sawyer instantly regretted getting angry. Only that made him even more annoyed. (Damn that cute pout of hers.) "Anyway," he continued, this time retaining calmness. "You ain't a doctor, so it won't change nothin'."

She sighed, giving up the argument for the time being. "Suit yourself."

Sawyer nodded. "I will."

"Fine."

"_Fine_."

They stared each other down. The fact that they both had such competitive natures was both a blessing and a curse. Finally Kate looked away, allowing Sawyer to keep up his ego. It wasn't worth him bitching about for the next few hours.

He kept his eyes on her a moment longer, then turned back to his packed stuff. He pulled out what looked like a granola bar and unwrapped it very so slowly. Kate cringed at the steady rustling of the foil but refused to acknowledge her annoyance. He was testing her.

After what seemed like a never-ending minute, he got the bar out and took a loud bite, then commenced chewing it with even more emphasis. Kate felt something twist in her stomach. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the crumbled wrapper fly through the air and land a few feet off. That finally got her to react.

"Don't litter."

Sawyer lifted his eyes to her and raised a brow. He looked like he was considering laughing out loud, but the serious expression on Kate's face stopped him short of a smile. "Why the hell not?" He inquired between chews.

Kate flexed her jaw. "Because it's wrong?"

"You obviously forget who you're talkin' to, sweetheart."

She laughed sarcastically. "No, Sawyer, I don't. Not for a second."

He seemed hurt by the statement but he covered it quickly, biting into his snack again and shifting his gaze to something beyond the grasses. Kate exhaled a breath of air, taking her turn to feel bad for being cruel. She stood up and walked over to retrieve the trash. As she reached down for the paper, something shining through the dull green of the weeds caught her eye.

"Check this out." She unearthed the object, forgetting her original mission of retreating the bar wrapper, and returned to her seat beside her backpack. Sawyer had apparently finished brooding (and eating, thank God) because he looked over at her with mild interest.

"What is it?"

"I think it's a key." She held up the large, rusted key. The top was flat and shaped like a pentagon, and it appeared to have once held an inscription that was long worn away. A crack ran along the upper half and the bit was clipped. It looked ancient.

Sawyer shrugged his shoulders. "Probably dropped from the plane."

Kate lifted an eyebrow, twirling the key in her hands. "Out here?" She peered over the top of the grasses around them, futilely trying to spot any other possible plane wreckage. "I don't think so." She looked back at Sawyer.

He threw a hand up in defeat. "Does it matter?"

"No," Kate said slowly, looking down at the key again before sliding it into her pack's front pocket. "It's just kind of odd finding stuff like that here."

Sawyer's hearted laugh almost made her jump. "You're kiddin', right?" She smiled, realizing her statement was indeed silly. What _hadn't _they found on the island?

They slowly fell into silence again. Sawyer seemed to lose himself in his thoughs and Kate was out of things to talk about. As a cool breeze drifted across the clearing, she laid back on the grass, allowing her gaze to drift over the vast sky. As a cloud steadily hovered over to the sun and began to overcast it, Kate turned her head to look at Sawyer.

"You ever play that game with the clouds?" She asked before she could think about who she was talking to. (Maybe he was right... Maybe sometimes she did forget.)

He shifted his eyes over to her and cocked his head. "Think your head's in the clouds, Freckles."

She smiled but continued, her tone thoughtful. "You know, the one where you say what the clouds look like to you?" Sawyer still looked skeptical. "I used to play it with my dad." The word caught on her tongue for a moment, but she figured Sawyer wouldn't notice. He did but said nothing to it. Kate returned her eyes to the sky.

"Learn by example." She lifted a hand and pointed at the cumulus cloud that was still sitting on the sun. "Doesn't it look like a hippo?"

Sawyer's eyes followed her hand and he stared for a moment before resetting them on her. "A _hippo_?" he repeated slowly, apparently not seeing it.

"Okay, bad first try." Kate sighed and scanned the air for her next target. Again, she pointed at a large, fluffy cloud, this one floating over the jungle side they'd exited a few minutes ago. "That one resembles a smiley face." She put on a smile of her own, as if the cloud would be otherwise offended. "Those lighter patches are the eyes, and that part," she traced her finger over a choppy smaller cloud that was seemingly glued to the larger one, "is the mouth." She looked at Sawyer expectantly.

He slowly returned her look but said nothing (well, at least not verbally.)

Kate held back another sigh. Determined to make him play along, she nodded at a poofy cloud to their distant right.

"What's that one look like?"

"A _cloud_," Sawyer replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Kate rolled her eyes.

"You didn't even look."

He lifted his shoulders in a shrug, set a blade of grass between his teeth and absently began chewing on it. Kate held back a remark, not wanting to further push him.

"Have some imagination, Sawyer." She stated instead, her eyes challengingly befalling him. He narrowed his gaze, not about to back down to something so direct.

"Got plenty of it, thank you."

"Prove it." Kate held back a smile, knowing she was finally getting the upper hand. She knew him too well. (That "connection" of theirs could be useful at times.)

He let out an almost feral-sounding growl and lifted his eyes upward. "Fine." He scanned the clouds then pointed at a rather flat one. "See that one?"

Kate followed his hand and nodded.

"Looks like a bed." Sawyer grinned, and Kate lifted an eyebrow questioningly. "And if ya squint," Sawyer continued, "it almost looks like a woman layin' on it." Kate let out a slow sigh as she caught on to his train of thought. Satisfied with his finding, Sawyer then moved his hand to a pair of clouds. "And those two over there can be breasts, though if they drift a bit closer together, they'd make a nice ass." He pointed at another. "And that one..."

"All right, all right, I get it." Kate shut her eyes and bid the images out of her head. When she looked back at Sawyer, he was staring at her in bemusement. "You didn't lemme tell ya what that tall one over there reminds me of!"

Kate shook her head. "Not interested."

Sawyer scoffed. "Was just gonna say it can pass for a statue of our very own Saint Jack."

That got her attention. She drew her eyes to the cloud. "How the hell does that resemble Jack?"

Sawyer shrugged. "High and mighty and made up of nothin' but fluffy goodness." He allowed himself a grin. "How does it _not_?"

Kate brought her gaze to him and shared his grin. (Damn that sharp wit of his.) "Now you're just messing with me."

He produced a chuckle. "You wanted _imagination_."

She laughed, turning away from him. The longer she stared at the cloud, the more it did start looking like Jack. Suddenly disturbed by this, Kate dropped her head to the side and regarded the horizon, where the sky was darkening beyond the treetops. Confusion struck her, since it was barely past noon. Squinting, she realized a row of storm clouds were rolling in. And if they stayed here much longer, they'd get caught up right in the middle of it.

Allowing herself a further moment of peace and quiet, she shifted a peek at Sawyer. He was retreated in his head again, so that gave her a free window of opportunity to unknowingly observe him. Her eyes traveled to his shoulder, where she noticed a small patch of blood. (Damn it, Sawyer.) She couldn't tell if it was fresh or not, but it worried her nonetheless. If his wound got irritated out here and the infection returned, she wouldn't be able to get him back to camp.

Shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts, she pushed herself off the ground and stretched. If Sawyer wanted to gamble with his life like this, it was his problem. Not hers.

Convincing herself for the time being, she reached for her backpack and swung it over her shoulder. Glancing at Sawyer, she felt her insides tingle. (Please be okay.)

"Ready to go?" She asked, putting on a knowing smile and concealing her tone with playfulness. His eyes met hers and he glared, noting that she was calling him on initiating the rest stop for his own personal need. Surprisingly, he didn't rebuke the comment. Instead, he nodded and rose as well.

"Thought you'd never ask." He stated, making Kate smile. (Some things never change.) He strode past her, reclaiming his lead, and she spared a glance back at the incoming rain clouds before starting after him.

As they walked away, the grasses swayed under a sudden gust. The storm was still far off, but a thick darkness was already starting to consume the land.

The forgotten granola wrapper crunched objectively under the weight of the foot that stepped upon it, but the wind swallowed the noise.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Hey look! I'm not dead. Hope everyone had a nice holiday season. Here's a juicy chapter for y'all :D

---

It took them the rest of the afternoon to get through the meadow and back into the jungle. The land had begun to slope in an upwardly fashion, slowing their progress even further.

Sawyer held his lead this time (not that it mattered since he obviously had no idea where he was going) but his sluggish pacing was really being to concern Kate. Since their last break, he'd been walking onward with fueled determination and the combination of the humid heat and the physical demand of the journey, applied to his already-weakened and still-recovering state, could only spell out trouble.

However, he'd never admit to being in pain, let alone being tired. Not 'til it killed him. So the responsibility of Sawyer's well-being fell onto Kate. Whatever happened out here would be directly on her shoulders. She'd signed up for it the moment she'd left the hatch this morning. Or perhaps even earlier. (The moment Sawyer had returned? Even before _that_? Her mind quickly blocked out the possibilities.)

Not about to allow Sawyer to continue carelessly driving himself onto dangerous territory (literally and not), Kate was left with no choice but to break the silence again.

Unsure exactly of how to approach the topic, and not keen on giving Sawyer the satisfaction of her caring, Kate instead took a safer route.

"Just admit that we're lost." She came to a stop and set her hands firmly on her hips.

That had come slightly out of the blue, but it worked in bringing Sawyer to a stop. He whirled around and narrowed his eyes at her, attempting to pick apart her statement, in search of a deeper meaning.

For once, he didn't find one. (Usually he would have her nailed. Kate's worries thickened again.)

"We ain't _lost_," he finally countered, though his tone was too defensive to pass as convincing.

There was stubborn, and then there was Sawyer. Kate chewed on her lip. "I'm fairly certain we've passed this log," she tipped her head at a rotting tree trunk to their side, "at least three times now, Sawyer. We're going in _circles_."

He let out a growl of frustration as he spared their surroundings a glance. (The fact that she was _right _got to him more than the fact they were indeed lost.) Kate held back a satisfied smile, knowing it'd only make matters worse. She brought her arms up, crossing them in front of her chest, and waited for Sawyer to make the next move.

Of course, things would never be simply resolved with him. "_You _signed up for this tour, Freckles. Ain't my problem you don't like the guide." He turned swiftly and continued to walk. (_Typical_.)

Kate stared after him a moment, then followed. She wasn't about to let of this go so easily.

"Come on, Sawyer. Let's just go back to camp."

He shot her an amused look over his shoulder. "How the hell do ya expect to find the way back if we're _lost_?"

(_Ha_! He admitted it, if indirectly.) Instead of basking in that fact, Kate let it slip by without commenting.

"Sun," she stated, simply.

That caused Sawyer to stop again. He lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "You gonna channel her through a rock or somethin'?"

It took Kate a moment to realize what he meant. She was torn between an eye roll and a laugh. "No, I mean the actual sun." She lifted a hand towards the western sky, where the last patch of clear sky housed a dull, yellow-gold sun. Sawyer flickered his gaze from it back to Kate, clearly not getting the picture.

"It sets in the West," she explained calmly, before frowning. "Haven't you ever watched it from the beach?"

Sawyer had to chuckled at that. "Not much for sunsets, Freckles." He let out some air through his nose. "What's your point anyway?"

She shook her head, annoyed that everything had to be spelled out for him. "We can follow the sun back to camp."

"Ah." Her watched her for a second, then shrugged. "Been through this before, sugar. I ain't goin' back to camp until I finish what I came out here to do." He glanced back at the sun, then turned his back to it and started walking in the opposite direction.

Kate didn't miss a beat. "_You _don't even know why you're out here, Sawyer." She stalked after him angrily. "Is this really worth it?"

He didn't reply and Kate felt her temper rising once more. (It was so much easier not caring._ Damn human emotions_...)

Suddenly Sawyer stopped and Kate couldn't react fast enough this time. She walked right into him, causing them both to sway a bit and earning herself a glare.

"What is it?" She peered around him and saw for herself what had caused the short stop. A moss-covered rock wall stood before them, rising out of the cracked dirt ground. It seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions. Kate let her gaze linger upward, where she could just make out the top edge of the wall, a good thirty or forty feet up. She wondered if an earthquake had caused this odd land alignment. It seemed like the only logical explanation. (Then again, this island and "logical explanations" didn't really match up too well.)

Sawyer was already walking along the wall by the time she'd brought her eyes back down. Sighing, she started after him.

There really was no going back now.

---

As they continued walking the perimeter of the rocky wall some time later, Kate felt (and heard) her stomach growl. It was now early in the evening and she hadn't eaten anything since the previous night. Before she could reach around her shoulder to extract a snack from her bag, she remembered that she'd left in such a haste this morning that she hadn't brought any food along for herself.

Her eyes wandered to Sawyer's figure strolling along a few steps ahead. Did she dare ask him for one of his goodies? (_Food _goodies, that is.) He'd give it to her, sure, (carte blanche!), but he wouldn't make it easy.

She started to weigh her options, but the rumble her stomach produced a second later made up her mind.

"Hey, Sawyer," she called out, slowing her steps. He turned and blinked at her. But before the question came to her lips, Kate's gaze offhandedly traveled up the tree Sawyer was now propped against and she smiled.

"Well?" He asked impatiently.

Kate pointed a finger and he sighed before cranking his neck to look up. "No more cloud games, darlin'." He stared at treetops, where only fragments of the overcastted sky peered through, and frowned. "The hell am I lookin' at?"

"Bananas." Kate chimed happily, having now wiggled out of her backpack. She walked towards Sawyer. "Gimme a few minutes to get some, okay?"

He brought his head downward and smirked at her. "As if I got a choice."

Returning the smile, Kate reached the trunk of the banana tree and wrapped her arms around it. Getting her footing, she skillfully started her way up the tall palm. Sawyer had moved back against the neighboring tree, and for a split second, Kate thought he was just being considerate. Or, at best, clearing the way in case she came tumbling down.

In truth, his actions were much more selfish than that. She spared him a quick glance as she climbed, and he was clearly enjoying the view.

"It wouldn't kill you to grow some decency." Kate hollered down as she reached the bananas, adjusting her hold before grabbing a patch and tugging them loose carefully.

"Nope," Sawyer drawled from below, his dimples probably showing, "but it'll sure as hell hurt."

A dozen bananas flew down at his head.

---

Half an hour later, Kate was on her third tree, where she was picking some native fruit, of which she didn't even know the name. She tossed the final ripe one down to Sawyer, who caught it obediently and set it atop in the pile they'd accumulated.

As Kate was about to start making her way back to the ground, something above her flashed. She peered up with concern and regarded the scene thoughtfully. Thick, dark clouds had now consumed the whole sky. Streaks of lightning would start off in the distance then travel through the clouds, covering what seemed like miles within seconds.

It looked like it would start pouring at any moment.

Peeling her eyes from the sky, Kate scanned the tree tops and then the flat earthly wall they had been following. She still couldn't see over the top, though she could make it out to be fairly leveled (possibly a plateau like the one they'd gone up when they had gone out looking for the transmission signal back in their early days on the island), but the walls towered a few dozen feet over the trees, and it was way too steep for her and Sawyer to attempt climbing. Especially not during a storm.

Her gaze followed the length of the wall, to which there really was no end in either direction, and stopped about a mile down, where she could just make out the top of a break in the rock. (A canyon?) Since they needed some sort of shelter for the night, Kate figured that was their safest shot.

Getting her direction set, she started back down the tree, moving from branch to branch with thoughtless ease. Roughly ten feet off the ground, however, a piece of the bark gave way. Before Kate knew it, she was slipping. Grasping the diameter of the trunk, she closed her eyes and commenced sliding the rest of the way down, unable to hold back the gasp that sounded from her lips.

Suddenly, a pair of hands were on her waist. She landed softly on her feet and exhaled her fear. The hands snaked their way around to her stomach and she felt herself being pressed back against a warm, solid form.

"You okay?" Sawyer whispered into her ear, his stubble grazing her skin softly. She cursed her body for betraying her with a shiver.

"Yeah, I..." She swallowed and pulled herself out of Sawyer's arms. He took a step back, offended, but still looking slightly worried. She turned around and leaned against the tree, calming her nerves before speaking again. "I took a bad step."

"Uh huh." He chuckled, his features warming as he picked up one of the citrus fruits she'd gathered off the top of the pile and bit into it. "Jane's losin' her touch." He chewed and swallowed. "Lucky for her, Tarzan's around to save the day."

Before an amusing visual could form itself in Kate's head (Sawyer in a loincloth?), she bent down and started packing the fruit in her bag. "We need to get moving. The sky's about to spill."

"Little rain never hurt." Sawyer shrugged as he finished off his snack. Kate suddenly realized she _still _hadn't eaten. She set aside a banana. "It's hot as hell."

"I doubt we're getting just a _little _by the looks of the clouds that are rolling in." She felt like she was explaining why you don't want to be prancing around under the cover of trees during a thunderstorm to a four-year-old. "There's a dent in the rocks about a mile off. If we're lucky, it's a cave or something of the sort. We can probably spend the night there."

She got up, having put all the fruit away (thankfully, her backpack had been thankfully packed lightly beforehand), and set her hands on her hips, looking at Sawyer pointedly. He rolled his eyes and peeled himself off the tree he was leaning on.

"All righty. You win."

He waved a hand, signifying that Kate should take the lead this time. She shot him a final, knowing look and did just that.

He smiled as his eyes lurked down her back, completely ignoring her unspoken warning.

---

Thirty minutes later, they still hadn't reached their destination. The terrain had taken another turn and it now consisted mainly of dark, jagged rocks that broke off into various fissions in some places and rose up into strange, exotic-looking structures in others. Random weedy plants and low-growing bushes would pop up here or there, but besides that, it was a grim sight. It was now obvious that volcanic activities had played a part in the formation of the island. This far inland, combined with the dim grey glow of the sky, the land almost looked alien.

Kate wondered if there were still active volcanoes on the island (hopefully they wouldn't have to find out) as she wove her way through the obstacles. She was being considerate of Sawyer's condition but all it was getting her was a load of smart-ass remarks and a fair amount of whiny bitching.

She _felt_, rather than heard, his mouth opening, gearing up for the newest mockery, but she held up a hand to hush him before he could get it out. She came to a stop beside the latest boulder she'd circled. Sawyer sighed and came around beside her, coming to a halt as well.

A strong sense of deja-vu hit them both, and not for the first time that day.

The mountain wall before them was indeed cracked, just Kate had seen from the tree earlier. What she hadn't had sight of was the majestic waterfall that was spilling down from between the gap and spreading out into a clear pool at the base, before continuing onward in a steady stream that snaked through the contrasting black rocks and stretched off into the distance. The water, bluish-green and crystalline in its clarity, housed an assortment of tropical-looking fish. They raced just below the surface, disturbing it only to catch the unlucky bugs that dared land upon it.

Sawyer was knee-deep in the pool before Kate had had a chance to take in the scene. She blinked.

"Sawyer, that's not a good idea."

He was unbuttoning his shirt with one hand, his pack forgotten by the water's edge. "Why the hell not?" He grinned back at her. "History repeats itself, Freckles. You _can't _back out." His spirit seemed rejuvenated by the water, and for that Kate was thankful.

She held back a smile. "There's a storm coming, for one thing."

He struggled with tugging his shirt off and she found herself going towards him without even meaning to. "We better hurry up before it gets here, then." He replied smartly, taking the final two steps towards the shore to break the distance between them and giving her an hopeful look. She sighed and reached for his sleeve, pulling his shirt off gently. His grin grew. "Do I get to undress you now?"

Kate shot him a glare. "I'm not going in. If you want to risk getting electrocuted, by all means." She dropped her bag next to Sawyer's and took a seat. He was already backing up towards the waterfall; the water up to his waist.

"Sure 'bout that? Water's great."

She rolled her eyes and looked away, trying hard to ignore the fact that it _was _insanely hot and even more humid then earlier in the day. And the water (and Sawyer) looked very tempting.

A sharp splash sounded and Kate looked back towards the waterfall. Sawyer was nowhere to be seen.

"You're not going to get me in by playing games, Sawyer." Her voice echoed dully against the rock wall before drowning against the thundering water. The pool's ripples evened out slowly, casting a mirror-like reflection of the dim sky along its surface. Kate turned her head again, attempting an air of indifference, but she couldn't help but watch the water out of the corner of her eye.

About 30 seconds later, when Sawyer hadn't reemerged, she got to her feet.

"Sawyer?" The air was dead silent around her. "This isn't funny!" She waddled into the water, not bothering with her shoes or jeans, and scanned the surface for any sign of him. The rocky bottom gleamed back at her. A yellow and blue striped fish skimmed the surface before frighteningly bounding off into the darkness of the deeper water.

Suddenly, something pushed her from behind and she lost her footing, tumbling forward headfirst. "Sure it is," she heard before crashing into the water. Quickly fighting her way to the surface, Kate gasped for air, inhaling a lung-full before turning to yell it out at Sawyer. But his goofy grin stopped her, and instead she pushed her hands out and sent a decently sized wave at his face.

He closed his eyes as it hit him, then reopened them and shook his head; his hair letting out a shower of water in all directions. Kate smiled despite herself. This _did _feel nice.

"You got my clothes all wet." She sounded anything but angry and Sawyer grinned again.

"You can always take'm off." He winked at her. "My offer still stands f'ya need any help."

Another wave was sent his way, but he dove under the water before it reached him. Kate narrowed her eyes, scanning the clear pool, this time prepared for an attack. But it didn't come.

She heard Sawyer break the surface behind her, some distance away. Turning, she squinted against the scarce light in attempt to make out what he was doing.

"Sawyer?"

He was facing the waterfall, his back towards her. Glancing over his shoulder, he nodded. "Come here and look at this."

Curiosity, she swam towards him, eyes set on the waterfall. As she neared Sawyer, she noticed what he was probably looking at as well. Behind the cascading water, the wall hollowed out into a cave. Sawyer was already going towards it.

"Maybe we shouldn't," Kate had stated before she'd even meant to speak, even though she'd originally led them here with the intention of finding shelther.

Sawyer didn't hesitate pulling himself onto the rocks and maneuvering towards the cavern. "I got a flashlight in my bag," he replied suggestively. It was a sneaky way of wording a direct command.

Sighing, Kate went against her better judgment and swam towards the bank to retrieve their stuff. At best, they wouldn't be stuck outside in the storm.

She didn't dwell on the "at worse..."

---

The waterfall distorted the sparse outside light along the solid cave floor. It didn't reach the walls though, and Kate had to keep a hand on the one closest to her as she walked. Sawyer trailed a few steps to the side, scanning his flashlight over random points and stopping to inspect them more closely.

"Nice, ain't it?"

Kate spared him a look before sinking deeper into the shadows. "It's kind of creeping me out, actually." She blinked, trying to get her eyes adjusted to the lack of light.

"What? Afraid of the dark?" Sawyer teased, his voice echoing above the water crashing down by the entrance.

"More afraid of what could be _in _the dark," she replied softly, and he probably didn't hear her.

Her hand ran across the smooth stone and she followed the wall deeper into the enclosure. The sound of the water dulled with each step. She felt Sawyer following along, though he was keeping his distance.

Suddenly, her fingers grazed an unfamiliar surface. Kate stopped, confused. Turning towards the wall, she placed her other hand upon it as well. It was cold, flaky and damp. She clipped away at it with her nail, then knocked a knuckle against it. A hollow _thud _replied.

Solid rock didn't give off that kind of sound.

"Hey Sawyer, shine the light over here." Her voice rang through the air and his heavy footsteps responded. The circular beam of light landed on her and she had to shield her eyes against its sudden glare. Taking a step back so that she stood next to Sawyer, she noticed him staring at something ahead of them with an odd expression on his face.

She turned and blinked against the reflecting light.

The heavily rusted metal stood out menacingly against the glassy stone that surrounded it. It took a few seconds for Kate to register what stood before them.

It was a door.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **School starts back up Monday but we get a nice, Skate-y new episode of Lost on Wednesday so all is right with the world. Enjoy the chapter ;)

---

They stood there staring the door down for a long while. The uncertain feeling returned to the pit of Kate's stomach as her eyes scanned the steel before her. Even though years of humidity had rusted the metal and chipped the paint, she could still see the outer circles of the Dharma logo under the glare of the flashlight.

"What the hell is this?" Sawyer's voice snapped her back to reality and she shook her head clear before humorlessly replying.

"A door." Something was telling her to turn around and walk away right this instant. To walk away while she still had that option. (Kate took a moment to wonder if she was being rational or if running was simply her answer to everything. Unwillingly, she then wondered if running really _was _still an option.)

"Thank you, _Captain Obvious_." When he still didn't get an answer, Sawyer decided to clarify. "What's it doin' here?" He stepped forward and reached for the handle (which Kate hadn't even noticed before.) Before she could utter "don't," he gave the door a tug.

It didn't budge.

Kate exhaled a sigh of relief and took a step back. "Let's get out of here. It's cold and the air's too damp to start a fire."

It was Sawyer's turn to ignore her. He kneeled down in front of the door handle and held the flashlight so close to it that Kate couldn't see past its blinding brightness. "Still got that key ya found earlier?"

That caught her by surprise. "_What_?"

Sawyer lowered the light and turned to regard her curiously. "Door's locked. There's a keyhole." He drawled each word carefully, then lightened his tone. "And you know what they say..." A pause and grin for effect. "If the key fits..."

"That's _not _what they say," Kate replied tiredly, setting her hands on her hips in a parental manner. "And maybe it's locked for a reason."

"Didn't exactly stop you and the doc from shackin' up in the hatch while I was out takin' bullets from residential goons," his still-present grin gave away his enjoyment of this little game, "or driftin' through the open seas as shark bait," Kate lowered her head and smiled as Sawyer continued listing off his troubles, "all night long, only to be spit back out on this forsaken pile of dirt and come face-to-face with..." She dug the key out of her backpack's front pocket and tossed it to him. He caught it skillfully and turned back to the door with a smug expression. "Look on the bright side, cupcake. If there's a bed, I'll consider sharin' it with ya."

The statement flew over her head as she nervously watched Sawyer jiggle the key within the lock. (_What are the odds_, she remembered hearing Locke state the day Sawyer had woken in the hatch. Though she'd been passing the hall and the words had only registered subconsciously, that phrase now replayed in her mind.)

"It's not fair, you know," she'd lost count of how many times she had spoken without thinking in the last few hours, but she found herself undergoing another brain lapse where it almost seemed like she had no control over her own body. And for a moment, she couldn't place the familiarity of the words she was voicing.

Then she remembered. (She hadn't gotten the full meaning of the statement the first time around, but now she understood it.)

"What ain't fair?" Sawyer called back without really paying attention. He twisted the key but it refused to move.

"You coming back like this." This time he turned to her, but she had her face down and her damp hair was obscuring her eyes. He wondered if she was just talking to herself but before the conversation could continue, the sharp _click _of the lock brought them both back to the door.

Sawyer stood and placed his hand on the handle. With a steady pull, the massive steel portal squeaked open.

A chilly, dry air washed over them and Kate shivered.

"Well?" She brought herself to ask a full second later, not even bothering to peer around Sawyer's frame to see for herself what awaited beyond. "What is it?"

He took a step forward and shot her a mysterious grin over his shoulder. "Come see for yourself." And with that, he turned off his flashlight and disappeared into the darkness.

_Damn it_, Kate muttered to the shadows, squinting as her eyes refocused. She had two choices; follow her gut (and her brain) back to the cave entrance or follow her curiosity (and, perhaps, her heart) into the unknown after Sawyer.

Her hands slowly reached for the wall. She felt out the door frame and hardly hesitated before stepping inside, finally allowing herself to admit defeat.

---

She had expected something more interesting to greet her beyond the door. In truth, she now stood in a cold and empty rock tunnel. It probably would've helped if she could see past her own feet.

"Sawyer?" Her voice didn't go above a whisper, and Kate mentally kicked herself for being so on guard. She swallowed and called out again, adding some confidence to her tone.

"Boo." She spun as a hand brushed her shoulder and visibly jumped back a step upon coming face-to-face with Sawyer. He was holding the lit flashlight under his face in the oldest "scare the living daylights out of your younger sister" trick in the book. Kate frowned as her heart slowed its beating.

"Stop being an ass." She snatched the flashlight from his hands as he continued to grin at her.

"Hell, Freckles, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're scared." He stalked after her as she started down the tunnel. She could now see that it resembled the one she'd first walked back at their hatch, only this one was dug into the natural stone of the island, not made from concrete. And there didn't seem to be any lighting.

"If _I_ didn't know any better, I'd say you're taking advantage of that fact," she replied slowly, taking her time to run the flashlight beam from the ground to the walls on either side of them. She noticed that they housed a variety of carvings and sketches. Words, phrases and whole paragraphs in languages she couldn't recognize. Hand prints and stick figures, drawings of animals and objects. And scattered between everything else, there were numbers (4, 8, 15...)

Kate felt a lump in her throat and she looked away quickly.

Sawyer was still working out a reply, but as Kate brought the flashlight around to the opposing wall, something caught his attention. He stopped.

"Might wanna peek at this." Kate turned just as he brought his hand up to the wall he was facing. She took a step towards him but came to an instant stop as she caught sight of the airplane that was etched into the rock. The number 815 stood boldly above the drawing, circled repeatedly. Beside it, five and a half rows of inch-long lines.

_A tally._

She did the math in her head just to be sure. Then she recounted three times because it didn't really make any sense.

"Fifty-five." She finally formed the words, hoping that saying them aloud would change their meaning somehow.

But Sawyer nodded in agreement and Kate closed her eyes tightly, fighting off a wave of sudden dizziness.

"Exact number of days we've been on the island." He smiled despite himself. "Now that's just spooky, ain't it?"

Kate pulled herself away from the wall and continued walking with newfound encouragement. Sawyer spared the tally a final glance and proceeded down the hall after her.

---

Just over a minute later, the tunnel ended in a small, square room with a door stationed on each side. Kate had refused to look at the walls again up until now. A wave of relief washed over her upon finding this room completely unmarked.

She slowed and circled around to face Sawyer as he reached her. It was chillingly quiet this far into the mountain (or whatever the hell they were in.)

"Shall I pick a door first or shall you?" He tactfully broke the dead silence upon inspecting the room. Kate bit her lip. "We got this far. Don't tell me you're not the least bit curious."

"Curiosity is a dangerous thing," she replied wistfully, but turned to the doors nonetheless. She reached for the one closest to her, noting that unlike the outer door, this one had a regular knob and no keyhole. Sawyer peeled his backpack off his shoulder and produced a second flashlight, then walked over to the other door. Kate had already opened hers and he stole a peek just in time to see her walking down a shorter hallway towards yet another door.

As he turned around and reached for the doorknob, a low, foreign sound coming from beyond the door made him stop. Leaning against the cold metal, he listening. And sure enough, he heard it. Dull but steady. Annoyingly familiar yet he couldn't put a name to it. Behind him and a room away, Kate's sneakers thudded against the rock ground. Pulling back, Sawyer shrugged to no one in particular and turned the doorknob.

A strong, rotten smell hit him as soon as the door was ajar and he dropped the flashlight. It flickered as it hit the ground with a sharp _clank_. Sawyer brought his hand up to his face to covered his nose and mouth.

"What the hell..."

He bent down slightly and absently reached for the light with his free hand, but his wounded shoulder protested. Hissing in pain, he was forced to risk exposing himself to the smell for the sake of being free of pain. His fingers curled around the plastic handle of the flashlight and he pushed himself upright, exhaling from his nose and taking his next gulp of hair with his mouth. His stomach did a flip-flop as a bitter taste went down his throat.

"It's locked," he heard Kate comment from a distance, but he didn't bother with a reply. It had gone back to being unnerving quiet. Swallowing forcefully, Sawyer finally allowed himself to scan the premises with the light.

It was a large, rectangular room, built right into the stone with a low ceiling and choppy walls. What looked like a ventilation shaft loomed down on the door from the wall ahead, but judging by the smell, it hadn't functioned in a while. (_That or something died in here recently_, Sawyer mused. Oddly enough, the notion didn't even seem farfetched.) The space was cluttered with outdated furniture and mounts of apparent garbage. Stacks of papers covered every surface. and books lined the shelves that ran across both side walls. The floor was carpeted, but the fabric (once possibly a deep blue that had now faded to a sickly gray) was worn, ripped and burnt in many spots.

Sawyer took a step forward and the rumbling sound instantly returned. It was close, yet it almost sounded like it was coming at him from all sides. He could feel it vibrating in his blood.

He slowly ran the light across the room again but it flickered and then dimmed in brightness.

"Damn it, not now." Sawyer banged it against his knee but the light flashed off despite (or because of?) that. A sudden, high-pitched addition to the droning noise was the final give away. Sawyer classified the growl a second before a pair of yellow eyes and gleaming fangs charged at him.

He brought his hand up and then rammed the butt of the flashlight into the dog's massive head, disorienting it long enough throw its attack off balance. Stepping back, he turned towards the door but walked right into Kate.

"What-..." Without thinking, he pushed her back roughly, sending her to the ground. A sharp pain ran down his arm at the same time that he felt a mouthful of teeth sinking into his ankle. Sawyer let out a feral growl to match that of his attacker, then turned and kicked his leg into the wall, successfully prying the animal off him. He started for the door again but a heavy weight rammed itself into his back and sent him flying into a table, skidding across the surface briefly before slamming against the corner. Sawyer almost bit his tongue to keep from crying out as his shoulder hit the wall. He lifted his eyes and they landed on the dog (_was _it even a dog?) prowling around the foot of the table, stepping in and out of the light cast from Kate's flashlight in the neighboring room.

_Kate_.

His eyes turned to the doorway almost at the same time as the canine's. They both lunged simultaneously, but Sawyer reached for the door first. He slammed it shut and the animal flew into the steel headfirst. It wobbled and sat back for a second, shaking its head in confusion. Sawyer took this limited space of time to feel around the floor for his backpack. Damn the darkness. He couldn't see a thing.

The dog quickly recovered and it wasted no time in charging again. Sawyer was prepared for it this time. He kicked it in the muzzle before it had a chance to strike, then rolled over and under the table, swallowing back the pain it caused him and coming up on the other side.

"_Sawyer_!" Kate was pounding on door and his eyes had adjusted enough to make out the outline of a bookshelf that had gotten knocked down at some point and was now blocking the way out (or in.) At least he didn't have to worry about her.

His eyes turn back to the malicious yellow gaze of the canine and he felt a newfound fury. No way in hell had he made it through everything thus far only to be taken down by a damn dog living in a rock. It was stalking towards him again, growling softly and snapping at the air every so often, but it didn't look as willing to aimlessly attack this time.

"You learn fast, Cujo," Sawyer almost laughed at the idiocy of talking to an animal that was set on ripping him apart. He lifted his good hand to his shoulder and felt the warm blood gushing underneath his shirt. Backing up against the wall, he blinked back the nausea that was slowly overcoming him.

His foot touched against something soft and he spared a glance down.

His backpack.

"Easy there," Sawyer drawled as he slid down the wall carefully, keeping his eyes planted on the prowling dog. He unzipped the main pocket and dove his hand in, feeling around for the weapon he'd packed that morning. "Good dog." It gave off a snort and Sawyer allowed himself to look down again, but the break in eye contact was enough to set the animal off. It leapt forward just as Sawyer wrapped his fingers around the reassuring metal handle of his gun.

He held out his free hand and curled it around the dog's neck as it flew up against his chest, stopping its snapping jaws mere inches from his face. Its breath stank of decay and thick, hot strings of saliva flew through the air between them. It snarled and tried to wiggle around and grab his hand while its claws dug into his stomach, but Sawyer brought the handle of the gun down hard on its head and it swayed before rebounding and going in for Sawyer's face again.

Letting out an adrenaline-enduced yell, Sawyer pinned the barrel of the gun against the dog's throat. Their gazes connected for an endless second and Sawyer recognized the fire burning behind the copper yellow of the animal's eyes.

_It'll come back around. _

"I'm sorry." He turned, shut his eyes, and pulled the trigger.

Then he gladly gave in to the bidding darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Woot. This nice, long chapter's out earlier then usual. We can thank the lovely Lost Skate Haircut of D00M, 'cause that was just plain cute ;) And, as a note, as of next week's episode (which looks wicked, even though it's a Jack eppy :D), the canon Lost timeline will be caught up with the beginning of this story. So... you'll have to remember to keep the two separate in your minds ;) That being said... Enjoy! And have a good weekend.

---

"_Sawyer_!" Kate's voice pounded against the metal of the door almost as hard as her hands, but the sounds of struggle, charred by occasional snarls and growls, bounded back just as forcefully from the other side. She let forth her full vocabulary of curses, knowing it wouldn't do her any good but feeling better for it anyway.

And then she heard the gun fire. Long, sharp and chilling. For a moment, she wasn't sure if it was one single shot or eight. As its echo died, a deafening stretch of silence took over. Kate stood there, with her hand wrapped around the doorknob and her body leaned against the tough steel, waiting for something (_anything_) to happen.

She started counting to five, but she'd barely gotten to two before she was putting all her weight against the door again. She almost lost her footing as it jarred open an inch. Regaining her hold, Kate encouraged herself to push harder. She could feel something solid and heavy revolting against the carpeted floor within the other room. Steadily and in an unnervingly slow manner, she made enough of a gap to squeeze through.

She felt her insides curl at the heavy smell that surrounded her in the darkness. Noting that she'd left the flashlight where it had fallen earlier, her hand absently went to the wall beside the door frame and she was surprised when it landed on a light switch. She flicked it on and a dim light spread from a centered fixture on the ceiling, casting a dirty yellow glow on everything within the room.

Kate eyes quickly went to her feet and she made her way over the fallen bookshelf that had been propped against the door. Ahead of her, under the scattered papers and books, the floor held an array of tracks (_paws_?) and smears of blood. Her eyes stayed on them for a moment then she willed herself to scan the rest of the room.

"Sawyer?" Her voice sounded small when she called out and the silence swallowed it greedily. She was almost as afraid of getting an answer as she was of _not_ getting one.

Then she heard it. Faint and ragged. Breathing.

She took another step forward and followed the blooded path on the floor with her eyes. A table stood to the side, pushed against the corner with most of its bearings spilled on the ground.

A boot peeked out from the shadows cast by the table, and Kate stared at it for a long stretch of time, even after she'd categorized it as Sawyer's.

When she finally found the courage to move, everything seemed to speed up.

One second, she was staring at Sawyer, leaned against a gray wall with his head drooped lazily against his shoulder. A large patch of black fur was sprawled across his upper half, concealing his chest and arms in a manner that seemed illogically funny. And there was blood. (_So much blood_.)

The next second, she was kneeling by Sawyer's side, having already pushed the heavy, warm weight off him. Her hands were moving over his face, shaking his head gently, brushing his hair back from his eyes. She was speaking- she knew that much- but exactly what she was saying was beyond her at the moment.

The following second, her eyes had landed on the gun he was clinging to, even in this subconscious state. She unwrapped it from his fingers and tossed it to the side as if it burned her flesh. Then her hands were running over his chest, peeling apart his already-ripped shirt, trying to distinguish Sawyer's blood from that of whatever lay dead beside him. Her attention turned from the scratches, cuts and bruises of his torso to the larger problem of his shoulder, where the bullet wound had reopened and now resembled an angry volcano; a crater of dark red spewing out of purple-black flesh. Before she even had the sense to think about it, Kate had removed her tank top- still damp from the pool- and she was pressing it against Sawyer's shoulder, willing his life to stop flowing out.

Then, as a sharp hiss of pain broke the calm, time slowed down again.

"God _damn_," Sawyer brought his good hand up to the back of his head and winced as it connected with a warm, sticky patch of hair. He opened his eyes slowly, as if unsure he really wanted to, and stared ahead, obviously disoriented. As his eyes wandered to Kate, the events that had just taken place came back to him. He smiled despite everything.

"Hey."

Kate laughed. Or maybe it was a sob disguised as a laugh. "Hey yourself."

Sawyer slowly closed his eyes again and the panic that had just cleared from Kate's body returned full force. "Hey, Sawyer. Stay with me, okay?" She set the palm of her free hand against his cheek and his head leaned heavily onto it.

"Mm," Sawyer swallowed, then set his head up and opened his eyes once more. Kate retracted her hand as he pushed himself up a bit straighter and exhaled loudly. Seemingly winning the battle with staying awake, he turned to her again, his eyes lingering for a moment, taking in the fact that she was there beside him in her bra. Uncharacteristically, he let a snide remark slide. "How long was I out?"

The fact that she had no idea shocked her. "Just a few minutes." It couldn't have been longer than that, _right_? "You jammed the door right after you threw me to the ground," she smiled and he replied with a chuckle.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that." He brought his hand up to his wounded shoulder and rested it over her own, letting out a low growl of pain as he pressed down on it. "Was kinda busy with the residential Baskerville hound."

(_Hound_?) Kate peeled her gaze off Sawyer and set it on the lifeless pile to his left.

Her eyes scanned the slick black fur covering its lean but powerful frame and rested on the neck portion, where a massive gaping hole was blown clear through. She looked up at the ceiling briefly, and- as expected- there was a small chip in the rock where the bullet had hit. Glancing back at the animal, her eyes continued to wander. They rested on its face, past the pointed ears, haunting golden eyes, and to the long, lean muzzle. Kate cocked her head in thought.

"Sawyer." She felt him shift beside her.

"Yeah?"

"That's not a dog." Their eyes met. "It's a wolf."

---

They both stared at the wolf corpse for a while, digesting the information. (Polar bears, horses... Why did this even seem surprising?) Finally, Kate got to her feet and allowed herself another look around the room. From here, she noted that there were two more doors at the far end, one on of the parallel sides, almost obscured by the packed bookshelves that ended right before the door frames began. She turned back to Sawyer, a plan already formed in her mind.

"Can you walk?"

He shifted his feet and bit back a groan. "Think so. White Fang there chewed on my ankle some but I had my lucky boots on." He smiled proudly and Kate looked over at his shoes, noting that the left one was indeed torn up. A small patch of blood had collected around the leather, but if Sawyer could move it fine, there was likely no serious injury.

"Looks like they're not so lucky anymore," she commented with no real emotion, then peered down at the gun by her feet. She swooped down and lifted it off the ground before waving it in Sawyer's direction. "I thought you would've learned your lesson about carrying guns around by now," Kate challenged halfheartedly, sparing a brief look at his shoulder.

"Hey," Sawyer started to interject, but Kate held up a hand and smiled playfully.

"I know, I know. You just shot a wolf."

He snorted in disapproval. "Sounds so _bad-ass _when _you _say it."

She let her smile linger but her eyes rested on the animal again. "Poor thing."

Sawyer groaned as he attempted to push himself up off the floor. "It was him or me, Freckles."

"Her, actually," Kate corrected, as if bounded by some unspoken duty to protect the wolf's dignity even in death. Scooting down, she dropped the gun in Sawyer's backpack before coming around to his side and setting herself under his good arm. Sawyer regarded her carefully as she helped him up.

"Didn't have any other choice but to shoot." He cursed at this newfound need to justify himself in front of Kate. He couldn't handle knowing he was causing the sadness that plagued her eyes just now.

"I know," her hand wormed its way around his waist and she started leading him towards the other side of the room. "Just because it's the only choice doesn't mean it can't be the wrong choice."

Not having anything reassuring, let alone sarcastic, to throw back at her, Sawyer sighed. "Yeah, well..." He swallowed roughly as he set his weight on his left leg. "Where we off to, then?"

Kate nodded at the far end of the room. "I'm hoping one of those is a bathroom. We need to get you cleaned up."

"Not like that'll make much difference," Sawyer stated smartly. "Knowin' my luck, the damned wolf probably had rabies." Kate felt something cold run through her at these words, but she laughed it away.

"Doubtful," she replied, though it really wasn't that much of a stretch. Why _had_ the wolf attacked? Weren't they usually more afraid of humans? (Then again, this one wasn't exactly roaming the wild. It was locked up in a small, dark room for who knows how long.) "Someone's obviously been taking care of her," Kate continued, trying to rationalize with herself more than reassure Sawyer.

"Ah, so she was just defendin' her home sweet home." Kate rolled her eyes at the sarcasm behind that statement, but said nothing in reply. It seemed plausible enough. Someone was living here (how anyone could live in these conditions was beyond her, but...) and the wolf, odd choice for a pet as it might be, had probably been their only company.

"I wonder what happened to them." Kate mulled aloud as they maneuvered around a sofa and reached the door closest to their side of the room.

"Who?" Sawyer started to reach for the doorknob, but the sharp jolt that ran through his shoulder stopped him. "Damn it."

Kate stepped forward. "Whoever lived here." She turned the knob and pushed the door open. Darkness met them.

"_Lived_?" Sawyer turned slightly so they could both get through the door. "What makes you so sure somethin' happened to'm?"

Relieved when her hand drifted over a light switch, Kate shrugged. "Seeing as nothing _human_ attacked you as well, I'm just taking a wild guess." A strong, white light flooded the room and Kate felt another wave of relief at both the fact that they _had_ found the bathroom (a small, square room with a toilet, a shower and a simple wooden table smack in a corner) and that there were no dead bodies inhabiting it.

They made their way over to oddly placed (but convenient for their situation) table and Sawyer steadied himself against it as Kate slipped out from under his arm. Though they would never admit it, they both instantly missed the warmth of each other's bodies.

"Well, if anythin' happened to anyone, it was recently." Kate headed over to the shower to make sure the water was running. She glanced back at Sawyer, unsure of what exactly he meant.

"And how do you figure that?"

He lifted an eyebrow in amusement. "The handy-dandy tally of our days on Gilligan's island was a big hint, for one."

Kate didn't reply right away. She twirled the knobs on the shower and stood back as a burst of air traveled through the pipes within the walls. (She found herself wondering how much time it must have taken to build these stations out here. How could such a project have gone down so secretively?) "Maybe it's just a coincidence of some sort," she finally offered, though it sounded as silly to her as it did to Sawyer, judging by his proceeding chuckle.

"Lots of coincidences today, don't ya think?"

A strong spray of water shot out from the showerhead suddenly and Kate stepped back to keep it from soaking her (granted that her jeans were still damp.) She suddenly released she was _still _in her bra and it brought a faint flush to her cheeks now that the situation wasn't as dire as it had been earlier. Before she could turn and hide it from Sawyer...

"Well, what's this? Turnin' all modest on me now, Freckles?" She shot him a glare as she walked back over to him. Taking hold of his good arm's sleeve, she carefully worked the ruined shirt off him. She then set her attention to his shoulder. He was still holding her crumbled clothing over it, but from the looks of things, the bleeding had slowed. Her eyes lurked down his chest, to the collaboration of scrapes the wolf had dug into his stomach. She reached out a hand and gently brushed her fingers over the gashes. Sawyer watched her intensely, holding his breath as her touch sent shivers of a bittersweet pain through his body.

She looked up, meeting his gaze, and they both leaned in simultaneously.

Two inches away from each other's lips, Kate set a hand on his chest. "Get undressed," she purred, and Sawyer almost toppled over the edge of the table. Kate bit back a laugh before clarifying. "I've got some peroxide and fresh bandages in my bag. Once you clean up, call me so I can patch you up." Sawyer nodded stupidly as she hovered before him a moment longer, then turned around and walked out, softly closing the door behind her.

"Son of a bitch."

---

A few minutes later, Kate had set all their stuff on the coffee table which sat in the center of the room. She looked over at the wolf, now covered by a white sheet she'd found folded on a shelf, and again caught herself feeling a weird mixture of guilt and curiosity. (_Where did you come from_?)

Her eyes lurked to the door opposing the bathroom, and she started towards it without much thought. About a step before she reached it, Kate heard the shower water slowing down to a stop. Her eyes lingered on the door a second longer, then she heard Sawyer call from behind her.

"Uh, Kate." Her name always sounded so off coming from Sawyer. Turning around, she made the short trip to the bathroom door and opened it. "Can ya get me a..."

Sawyer physically jumped back in shock at her entrance, bringing the pile that consisted of his jeans and mauled shirt up to cover his lower half. Kate lifted an eyebrow as she strode into the steamy (from the hot water, of course) room.

"Please," she laughed. "Like you give a crap about me seeing you naked." She glanced around the room and noted that there were no towels around.

His eyes narrowed in defense. "Maybe now I do!" She turned her attention back to Sawyer.

"Why?" Kate couldn't help but roll her eyes for mock effect. "It's nothing I haven't already seen, you know." She topped it off with a knowing grin. "_Twice_," and then she threw his earlier statement right back at him.

That caused Sawyer to blink in confusion. (_Twice_?) "Hey," he began to argue, but slowly his rationality filled in the blank. (At least he could take some comfort in the fact that it wasn't _Jack_ who'd taken him out of his clothes and put'm in bed the day Eko had returned him to camp.) He allowed himself a coy smile. "Bet I forced you into both those situations as well, huh?" He turned the conversation back on her challengingly.

"Nope," her eyes were dangerously sexy as she leaned towards him again and whispered. "I guess I just keep expecting to see something _more_."

His mouth flew open in comical shock. "Now that ain't fair!" Kate turned to hide her smile and started walking back out to the other room. "The water was damn cold the first time!" He pondered his second excuse for a moment. "And last week..."

"Save it." She cut in, not giving him a chance to finish replying before she disappeared from his sight. A few seconds later, a small blanket landed at his feet.

Sawyer huffed out a breath of air before carefully pulling his hands away from himself and looking down observingly. He sighed in annoyance before picking up the blanket and wrapped it around his waist.

"Damn women. Always wantin' somethin' _more_."

He stormed out of the bathroom angrily.

---

Sawyer sat on the sofa, shifting impatiently as Kate finished wrapping his midsection up. She took a step back and inspected her work.

"Pretty good at this, doc," Sawyer drawled, a playful smile playing on his face. "Sure you hadn't been practicing on me while I was out cold last week?"

Kate returned the smile but shook her head. "No, but I wouldn't put it past Jack to have snuck in a session or two with you..." Sawyer's grin faded instantly.

"Funny."

"I thought so," Kate agreed. She turned to their backpacks. "Your pills in here?"

"Yeah, front pocket." Sawyer fought back a yawn as he leaned back against the dull fabric of the couch. Kate took them out, along with a bottle of water, and turned back to Sawyer.

"Here," she handed him two pills and the water, then watched carefully as he gulped them down. He shot her a look.

"Don't trust me, Captain?" She ignored him and took the bottle back.

"How's your head feel? Sure you don't want me to wrap it up?" She stood on her toes to try and peer around to the back of Sawyer's head.

"It's _fine_, okay?" He growled, leaning back to block her view. "And I ain't gonna walk around like some mummy, thank you."

Letting the argument fade for now, Kate nodded. "Get some sleep, then." She stepped back and crossed her arms. Sawyer stared at her for a moment before snorting and shutting his eyes.

Kate lifted her gaze off him and scanned the bookshelf nearest her. Large, dusty books were firmly stacked from one end to the other (Robustness and Evolvability, Genetic Nutritioneering, Phenotypic Plasticity, the titles seemed to get more and more complex...) Moving along the wall, she looked down at a desk in the far corner. Random junk (scattered pens, unlabeled records, what looked like a nail file, a calendar of sorts, a bundle of broken plates...) littered the top, piled aimlessly over a few dozen sheets of paper. She walked over and glanced at the calendar; it was hand-drawn and it lacked an exact year, but there were tiny dots in the boxes under each day (Kate counted them up quickly and it seemed like this same calendar had been in use for nearly 17 years. Calculating the time they'd spent on the island, she noted with mild amusement that they were a few weeks away from Christmas. Not that it mattered here...) Sighing, she ran her fingers over the sheets underneath the other items, where fragments of sentences ran across the paper only to be crossed out roughly with thick, back markers ("_Diseases of terrestrial, avian and aquatic life influence a number of..._" "..._many agents are zoonotic, thus transmissible between..._" "..._is the primary purpose of the quarantine._") Kate felt a chill run up and down her spine, one of many since they'd found this place, and she glanced over at Sawyer warily.

(If something happens to him because of this...)

She didn't finish her thought as her attention swerved to the unopened door to her left. Or more so, the _clinkety-clanking _noise coming from within the door. It sounded oddly like a metal pot being dropped into a kitchen sink. _Repeatedly_.

Looking from the door to Sawyer (who was now asleep) and back to the door, Kate stepped forward and lifted her hand to the knob yet again.

Slowly, she turned it and let the door swing open. The cold air inside the room gushed out and hit her with a refreshingly sanitary breeze.

She reached for the light switch but the lights went on before she had a chance to flip it.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Wow. Hah. Sorry for the long ass wait. I _really _wanted to write, especially after last week's killer episode (a Jack flashback taking my "favorite episode of season 2 thus far" spot? I must have_ the sickness _:D) yet I kept being lazy. Alas. But, w00t! Protective!Sawyer canon, which makes writing this a lot easier. I was hoping not to stray too far into OOC-land so that was a welcomed thing to see on-air.

There's a rerun next week, but Sawyer's episode is right around the corner so we're looking good. Just remember that as of last week, this story has gone "AU"-ish. And yeah. I'll likely update again next Wednesday to tide us over, then I'll attempt to go back to Sunday updates.

Yehaw. Enjoy.

---

Kate squinted her eyes against the sharp flood of white light. It took her vision a few seconds to adjust, and once she wasn't blinded by the brightness, she took a step into the room. The door (which she noticed was at least a foot thick and made of solid steel) started to swing shut, and Kate moved to the side to avoid getting hit. When it clicked shut, a wave of panic raced through her body. She stared at her reflection in the stainless metal for a moment, afraid to try the handle. (What if she was locked in?)

A chill ran down her spine and Kate turned her attention to the room. Procrastinating the door issue would work for now. She brought her hands up to hug herself, rubbing her bare arms as the cool, clean air dove into her skin. Luckily, she'd had enough sense to change out of her wet clothes and into cargo pants and another one of her assorted tank tops, but the atmosphere in here was downright frosty. A soft humming hinted at a working ventilation system, at least in this room.

Obviously, this place was important, and Kate finally allowed herself to digest what she was seeing. The room, spotlessly white (and not only from the radiant lights but also from the walls, which- unlike the solid stone of the other rooms and tunnel- were upheld with an immaculately white paint job, like one you would find in a brand new house), was about as large as the main quarters, although organized in a much more orderly fashion. White counters were stationed next to the door- housing a large sink- and along one of the side walls, neatly topped with metal instruments and the occasional text book. Cabinets, white with glass fronts, hovered over all the counters, and Kate could see that they were all filled with what looked like different equipment.

Ahead of her, a white table was pushed against the wall and a large, square object was placed on its top, hidden under a metallic cover.

The wall at the far end was lined with metal shelves, packed side to side with what looked like glass containers (and though there was no light directly over them, the shadows they cast within themselves hinted that the containers actually _contained_ things.)

The crisp clean smell reminded Kate of a hospital, but the room resembled a miniature laboratory if anything. Letting out a breath she hadn't intentionally been holding back, Kate glanced at what she assumed was the light switch again. Her eyes lurked up the ceiling lights, wondering how they'd automatically turned on when she'd pushed the door open. Right over her head, next to what appeared to be a smoke alarm, a small white plastic box held a red light bulb, which was currently lit.

(_Some weird type of motion sensor_?) Kate pondered this a moment, her gaze washing over the room again. It looked so out of place when compared to the rest of the chamber they were occupying. Or, hell, when compared to the other hatch... Most of these things were obviously much more modern... So someone had to have been keeping this place up in the recent years.

As she pushed these thoughts from her mind, the dull silence made Kate realize that the noise which had drawn her to the door was now gone. She stepped further into the room, running her hand over the nearest counter top, when the door behind her suddenly opened.

"Well now. Was wonderin' where you ran off to." She shot Sawyer a look over her shoulder, her expression hardening when she noticed the cigarette he held between his lips.

"I thought you were asleep," Kate explained in a tone that was rather accusing. She turned towards him and crossed her arms. "And since when are you smoking again?"

He flashed her a dimpled smile as he twirled something in his hands. (_A lighter_, Kate guessed with a sigh.) "Since the goods are back in stock, sugar. Found a lonely pack lyin' on the desk just beggin' me to light their fire." He winked at her suggestively and she rolled her eyes in return.

"As if you need to add on to the list of things that're aiming to kill you," Kate commented, watching him light the cigarette and puff out a cloud of smoke.

"Might as well enjoy'm while I can then." His eyes went to the switch by the door and without any real reason behind the action, he flicked it on.

A low, yellow glow emitted from the far end of the room and they both turned to face it. A flat light panel that occupied the whole wall was now illuminated. It cast its golden light through the glass containers stacked along the shelves in front of it. Kate had to step closer to comprehend what she was looking at, and Sawyer muttered a "_what the hell?_" as he too made his way forward. The door whooshed shut behind them, but neither cared enough to look away at the moment.

All of the glass structures contained variously sized and shaped... _things_.

"I think... they're fetuses..." Kate thought out loud, closing the gap between her and the shelves before squinting into the closest container. A deformed looking figure with four limbs and a tail, scrunched up into a half circle, floated within the watery yellow substance of the jar. Kate let her gaze drift down the row. One of the creatures resembled a premature cat. Another almost looked... human. (_No, _she countered, taking note of the tail. A monkey?)

Sawyer gave a grunt of disgust behind her. "Well, I dunno 'bout you, Freckles, but I've had enough of Dexter's Laboratory for one day." She heard him turn and start towards the door, but a familiar _clank_ stopped his footsteps. Kate turned around and spied Sawyer staring at the covered box atop the table. Some more sharp, metal-on-metal sounds proceeded out of it.

"Guess somethin' here's still alive," Sawyer stated, reaching for the square structure. Kate started towards him nervously.

"Maybe you shouldn't..." The words were barely out of her mouth before Sawyer had pulled back the metallic sheet. They were met with two copper orbs, glimmering curiously against a furry black background.

The wolf pup cocked its head in a mixture of confusion and amusement, one of its ears flopping over in a comical manner. Sawyer and Kate remained silent, unsure of how to approach this discovery. Getting bored with the lack of events, the animal turned around in its cage and proceeded to bat around an empty stainless steel bowl.

The noise seemed to snapped Sawyer back to reality. "Terrific." He sighed, exhaling a final lung-full of smoke before tossing his cigarette butt to the floor and stepping over it. Kate flexed her jaw, looking away from the young wolf and getting read to voice her disapproval, but a sudden onset of sharp beeps cut her off. Sawyer cursed and brought his hands up to his ears.

"_Now _what?"

Kate looked up at the flashing red light over the doorway. "I think you triggered a smoke alarm."

Sawyer snorted. "Yeah and I think this whole room is rigged and about to explode." He reached forward and grabbed her arm, swinging the door open with ease, and starting to pull her out.

"Wait," she tugged herself loose and went to the cage. "We can't leave him here." The wolf pup yipped over the booming alarm.

"Oh, yes we can." Sawyer started for her again but she dodged him and unhooked the cage door, pulling the black fur ball out before quickly walking around Sawyer and out the door.

Growling in frustration, Sawyer followed her and slammed the door shut. The beeping dulled instantly. They both waited, holding their breaths, until the sound stopped completely a few seconds later. Sighing, Kate started across the hall, the pup wiggling against her chest.

"Where the hell are you going?" Sawyer remarked, the agitation clear in his voice.

"I need some fresh air." Kate called over her shoulder as she peeled her backpack off an armchair. "We're going on a walk."

"Like hell you are," he started after her, but Kate turned and shot him a deadly look. He felt a nerve twitch in his neck, but he fought for control. "Fine," he snarled, fighting for some final say in the matter. "Just... be careful." He managed meekly.

Kate sighed but nodded softly before she turned and disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel.

Sawyer resisted the urge to punch something. Instead, he dug into his pocket for another smoke.

Things just kept getting better and better.

---

Of course, his temper had cooled down about 30 seconds after Kate had left. Now he just felt restless. (And worried, but that fact he choose to ignore.) He had to occupy himself with something to keep from going after Kate, knowing that it'd only aggravate her more. She had a right to her space, but he was only giving her half an hour before stepping in.

Other than the cigarettes, Sawyer had also been pleased to find an old safety razor. So, armed with it in hand, he now stood in the middle of the small bathroom, glancing around from wall to wall and trying to place what felt so "off" about the room. As he pondered this a second, he realized the problem: there was no sink. A broken mirror hung on a wall, beside the cornered table, but there was no indication of there ever being a sink beneath it.

"Well, then..." He tossed the razor onto the tabletop and went to the shower. Letting a light stream of cold water run, he proceeded to wash his hands and spray some of the refreshing liquid on his face. Working off an automatically-tuned process, he was done shaving in no time. As he shut the shower off, something squeaked from beyond the doorway. Sawyer lifted his eyes, a grin spreading across his features as he realized Kate had barely been gone 10 minutes.

"Miss me already, huh Freckles?" He called out as he rounded the corner and made his way into the "living room." His smile quickly faded as he saw that Kate wasn't there. Huffing out a breath of agitation (at himself for being so easily affected by Kate's actions and at Kate for playing on this knowledge, even if subconsciously), he turned back towards the bathroom. A step in, and something hard hit him over the head, intentionally aimed atop his already-existent wound.

"God _damn _it," he stumbled and turned, tripping over himself and landing on the floor in the process. He looked up at the shadowy face of his attacker.

"That's for killing my dog," the man stated offhandedly, but there was a chilling undertone to his voice, He stepped forward, into the light, and Sawyer quickly assessed him. Tall, muscled but skinny, with shaggy dirt-blonde hair. He wore an old shirt, army pants and muddy boots. His crystalline blue eyes were deep and empty; eyes of a man-turned-mad because he'd been left to his own company for far too long. He lifted his hand and Sawyer noted the large metal pipe he held, and the blood (_his blood_) that covered its front.

It took Sawyer a moment to realize what "dog" the stranger was referring to. "Bitch was askin' for it," he snarled, pushing himself back up against the wall. He mentally cursed for not taking his gun back after Kate had put it away earlier. He liked keeping it tucked in the waistband of his jeans, just in case. "Now you're followin' in her footsteps," he continued, stalling. His eyes roamed the small room for anything he could use as a weapon. "Guess that thing they say about people bein' like their pets ain't too far off." Sawyer glanced at the razor on the table but there was no way he'd get to it in time. (Not that he figured it'd do him much anyway.)

"You don't understand," the man went on, unfazed. He took another step towards Sawyer, waving the pipe in the air between them. "I can't let you ruin the project."

"We ain't here to ruin no project, Johnny." _Damn it._ Sawyer realized his slip a moment too late. He glared up at the other man, hoping he didn't catch on. They stared at each other for a long second, then the man shook his head.

"It's too late. Now that you know I'm here..." He started to lift the pipe, readying for the inevitable attack, but stopped. Slowly, he turned his head to the doorway. Sawyer held his breath, wondering what was going on. Then he heard it.

Footsteps.

_Kate_.

---

"I bet you regret taking a dive into the water now, don't you?" Kate held the shivering pup against her chest, feeling the dampness of his fur soak through the sweater she'd wrapped him in (that was her second article of clothing ruined in the past two hours. She had to admit that was a record.) Her footsteps bounded dully off the rock walls and down the thick air of the tunnel. Upon entering the living room, she wrinkled her face in disgust as the tainted air settled in around her once more. Her attention drifted to the corpse of the adult wolf, and she froze when its lifeless golden-brown eyes stared back at her accusingly. A wave of nausea hit her and she took a step back, closing her eyes against the image and inadvertently tightened her grasp on the pup.

(If Sawyer had uncovered the wolf as some sort of sick joke, so help her...)

"Sawyer?" Kate allowed herself to look across the length of the room. Both the doors at the far end were closed. Since Sawyer hadn't taken a liking to the "lab" room, that left only one option. Sighing, she started forward. A loud _thump_ caused her to stop, her heart rate beginning to race. Something was going on.

Another _thump_ sounded. It was coming from the bathroom.

"Lemme outta here, damn it!" (Wait, that was...)

"Sawyer?" She took another step, voicing her suspicion. The thumping increased in urgency.

"Kate! Get the gun. There's someone here..." She would've passed this off as a game, but the haste in his voice, backed by the fact that he'd actually called her _Kate_, brought about an even greater uneasy feeling. She made her way to the door and glanced down at the knob before wrapping her hand around it. She jiggled the handle and confirmed that it was indeed locked.

"Hang on, I'll get you out of there." She shifted the weight of the (now sleeping) animal to one arm and reached into her pocket. When she'd gone out earlier, she had realized that they'd carelessly left the key in the outside door. It seemed that now they were paying for it.

"Kate, listen to me. Get the gun. He might still-..." A dull _ding_ cut him short and Kate glanced around the room. Her eyes fell on the door that led into tunnel. Or more so, on the man who was now standing in the door.

"It's the only way," he stated, pocketing something that he had previously aimed towards Kate. And with nothing more than that, he turned and disappeared into the shadows beyond the light of the room.

"Kate!" She turned back to the door, slide the key into the lock and turned gently. Something gave off a sharp click and she stepped back as Sawyer pushed the door open. She was able to note that he had shaved, and that a steady stream of blood was oozing down the side of his head, before Sawyer placed his hands on her arms and regarded her steadily.

"You okay?" She nodded.

"Your head..." But Sawyer stepped away and looked around the room, cutting her statement off.

"Where'd that son of a bitch go?" He made his way to the sofa that housed his backpack and started digging through it for his gun.

"He went out the tunnel," Kate stepped after Sawyer, readjusted the warm mass in her arms. "Said something about this being "the only way" and he-..."

_Ding._

Both their eyes traveled to the wall behind them, where what Sawyer had previously assumed was the busted vent stood centered. Only now did he notice the small, rectangular box stationed over it. Only now that it was accompanied by the bright red number that was beaming down at them from its perch.

_42:00_

Kate stepped back, aligning herself with Sawyer as they stared at the counter.

"Reckon that's a smoke alarm too?" Sawyer asked, his voice lacking real humor. He checked the clip of his gun and swung his pack over his shoulder with a wince. "Come on, we're gettin' out of here."

Kate glanced around the room, making sure she had everything, before nodding. She took the lead but Sawyer's voice stopped her.

"Ain't ya forgettin' somethin'?" He drawled and she shot him a confused look. His eyes were planted on the bundle in her arms.

"Sawyer, I told you before. We can't just leave him."

He laughed and strolled past her. "No way we're takin' a damn wolf with us, Freckles."

Ignoring him, Kate followed. "It's just a _little_ wolf, Sawyer. And let's not forget you killed his mother. We owe him."

"Oh, I think I've repaid my dues. His daddy's the nut job who had the pleasure of acquainting his handy dandy metal pipe with my head." Sawyer spared her a glance. "And who's apparently aiming to blow us off the face of this rock pile."

"All the more reason we can't just leave this innocent animal here to die." She smiled, basically telling him that she would have the final word in this matter. Sawyer sighed, allowing her the victory for now. Turning back around, he continued to make his way down the tunnel with Kate at his heels. Another _ding_ floated after them as they reached the entrance. Sawyer looped his fingers around the handle and gave it a tug. Then he laughed.

"Houston, we've got ourselves a big ass problem." He stepped back and leaned against the stone wall. Kate fought against a newfound feeling of dread, knowing that if she gave in, it could consume her whole. She stepped up, pulled the door handle and bit her lip when it didn't move. As her hand reached into her pocket for the key again, her eyes washed over the door, and the wave of dread that hit her then couldn't be avoided this time around.

"There's no keyhole," she stated drily, her gaze locking on Sawyer's. He merely smiled.

"Yep." A chuckle. "On the bright side, looks like we don't gotta worry 'bout _Wolf Care 101 _now."

Another _ding_ was his only answer.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Heh. I need to stop setting deadlines for myself. They always backfire.

This update is for **Fire**, who went so far as to read one of my older Lost one-shots and urge me to update MH in the review. That made me smile so I set down and finished the chapter. Woot. This is also chapter 10, which means I might be halfway done with this fic, unless I choose to prolong it (which is highly possible.) Thanks to everyone who's sticking by it. I hope you're truly enjoying the ride.

In other news, we've got 5 days to go before a Sawyer!Episode! Aren't ya'll psyched?

I'm attempting to go back to Sunday!Updates, but my mother's coming over from NY this weekend, so I'll have to make you guys wait until next week. I will be posting a one-shot in the meantime, though, if anyone's curious to check it out ;) Look for it in a day or three.

And that's all. So, as usual, enjoy!

---

Kate backed up against the wall and chewed on her the inside of her cheek, trying to think of some loophole in the situation. Her eyes inadvertently trailed after the lone beam of light Sawyer was running over the floor and walls, outwardly unfazed by this turn of events. It took Kate two more _dings _to finally snap out of it and speak.

"We're going to have to find another way out," she stated pitifully, as if that much hadn't been obvious. Sawyer chuckled and waved a hand in the air between them.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we're locked inside a mighty hunk of solid rock. Now unless you're packin' a jackhammer in that bag of yours, it seems we're stuck here for good."

Kate frowned and shook her head, adjusting the weight of the pup in her arms. "So what do _you _suggest we do?"

He shrugged, not having expected their next course of action to be thrown into his hands.

"Know anything 'bout bombs?" He asked after a moment. Now it was Kate's turn to be taken off-guard.

"_No_," her voice was slightly defensive, as if she was ashamed to not have this knowledge. "Why?"

Sawyer pulled himself from the wall and started back towards the main room. "Figure our only option is tryin' to disarm the bitch." Kate didn't bother suppressing a laugh.

"You're kidding, right? That's a death sentence for sure." She followed behind, thankful when Sawyer let the matter drop at that. Their footsteps thudded through the empty hall in between _dings_. "And we're just assuming that thing is a bomb. Maybe it's just another counter thing." She reasoned, desperately trying to believe what she was saying. "Like the one at the hatch."

"Yeah, and ain't that button ya'll push supposed to keep the world from spontaneously combusting?" They walked out of the dark tunnel and into the soft light spilling from the open door ahead. "Either way, we're gonna be findin' out what happens in," Sawyer glanced up at the opposing wall as he reentered the main room, "34 minutes."

Kate paused at the door and leaned against its frame. Her gaze went to the flashing numbers and she fought the fear that was steadily taking hold of her body. She fought her screaming muscles. (_Run, run, run_...)

Something _yipped _and she looked down at the animal in her hands. The pup's gold eyes were now staring up at Kate. As the alarm _dinged _again, the wolf's left ear twitched and he let out a comically high-pitched bark.

"The hell is that?" Sawyer remarked from up ahead. Kate glanced in his direction and sighed when she noticed him flopped on the couch with his feet on a coffee table, as if he was settled down to watch the Super Bowl.

"The alarm woke him," she explained as she entered the room and made her way towards Sawyer. He peered over at the squirming bundle in her arms.

"It sounds broken." Kate rolled her eyes as she sat on the couch. She untangled the pup from her sweater, tossing it aside (if people said dogs smelled bad, they obviously had never sniffed a wolf...), before setting him down on the carpet. He stood still for half a second before tackling a stray book and proceeding to gnaw on its cover.

Kate and Sawyer watched him for a long moment, but another _ding _brought their eyes up.

_31:00_

"We can't just sit here and hope nothing happens, Sawyer." She got up and started pacing. His followed her with his eyes.

"I'm open to suggestions, then, Freckles." His gaze wandered past the red numbers and to the box that surrounded them. "I still say we try and shut the damn thing off," he picked up his previous argument. "Anyone who's seen a movie would know how to. Ya just cut the blue wire."

Kate kept walking. Back and forth. Back and forth.

"Or was it the red wire?" Sawyer questioned. He let out an agitated snort. "Hell, we can cut them both."

(_The other door_...)

"The other door," Kate whispered, her thoughts manifesting themselves.

"What's that?"

Kate turned around, her eyes wide. "There's another door. Remember?" Sawyer started at her blankly. "When we came in here... Before you got attacked... We split up. There was another door!" She felt like jumping up and clapping her hands. (This was it. This was their way out.)

"Thought you said it was locked," Sawyer deflated her excitement a notch. He brought his feet down to the floor and sat forward.

"It was," Kate agreed. "I mean, it is... But maybe it can be opened." (They _had _to be able to open it.)

"All right then." Sawyer rose, brushing past her. "Let's see what we got."

Kate quickly followed after him. The pup abandoned his book long enough to howl at the next _ding_.

---

Sawyer's flashlight landed on the door handle and Kate let out a sigh of relief as she noticed the dark hole beneath it. Her hand dove into her pocket and she fished out the key.

"Look at that." Sawyer's voice caused her to look up at the door in full. Large, red letters were printed across its front.

_EMERGENCY_

"Guess this qualifies, huh?" Sawyer's lopsided grin beamed over the light reflected back at them from the door. Kate allowed herself a smile before stepping up. She slid the key into the lock and her heart beat quickened. She twisted her wrist slowly.

The key refused to move.

"Damn it."

Sawyer mumbled a curse of his own before stepping forward. He nudged Kate out of the way and wrapping his hand around the handle. He gave it a pull. Nothing. He set his other hand against the wall and pulled again. Once more with no result.

Finally, he kicked the door, which only caused him to curse louder.

He took a step back, next to Kate, and sighed. "Well, there goes _that _idea. Got any more, sweetheart?"

They both stared at the door for a bit. Kate peered down at her hands thoughtfully.

"I broke a nail," she announced quietly, forcing Sawyer to look at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"Don't seem the type," he replied after a prolonged few seconds of awkward silence. She found it impossible not to laugh at that.

"To break a nail?"

"To care." He smirked. "What's next? Gonna go blonde and take up cheerleadin'?" His eyes glittered mischievously, his mood instantly lightened. "Hey, now_ there's _a thought..."

Kate shook her head but continued on seriously. "No, what I meant was..." She didn't finish the sentence, but instead turned and started towards the other room. "I have an idea. Hold on."

Sawyer watched her hurry off, engrossed in trying to visualize her in one of those skimpy cheerleader outfits and completely oblivious to what she'd just said.

---

She was back before he'd really registered the fact she indeed had formulated a new idea. Waving the thin, metal object at him, Kate smiled expectantly.

"How's that supposed to help us?" Sawyer stepped out of the way as Kate went to the door again.

"It's a nail file," she stated, to which Sawyer sighed.

"Well, _obviously_. Still don't see how it'll get us past a solid steel door." He watched Kate get on her knees.

"Hand me the flashlight?" He lifted an eyebrow as the pieces fell into place.

"You're gonna try and pick the lock?" His voice betrayed his amusement. Kate shot him a glare as she reached forward and snatched the light. "Perhaps you oughta step aside and let me go at it, Freckles. There ain't a lock I can't-..."

Something within the door _clicked _and Kate stood up. She turned to him, a satisfied expression set, and dropped the flashlight into his hand.

"So, you can't defuse bombs but you can pull a Houdini out of anything, huh?" They shared a knowing smile before Kate turned back to the door.

"Here goes nothing," she let out with a lung-full of air. Her fingers swirled around the handle and she tugged it softly.

A sudden gush of wind swung the door right open. It caught Kate by surprise and she tumbled back. Sawyer arms circled around her waist as she fell back into his chest.

"Easy there," he drawled, right above her ear. A shiver went down Kate's spine, and it wasn't due to the draft coming from the room in front of them. She pulled herself out of Sawyer's grasp, muttering a "sorry" in the process.

Both their attention turned to the darkness laying beyond the frame of the door. A wickedly rotten smell was now mixed with the cold air oozing out into the hallway. Kate brought a hand to her face and suppressed a cough.

"What the hell is that?" She pulled the front of her top over her nose. She looked back at Sawyer, who was breathing into the sleeve of his shirt.

"Stinks like the other room, only ten times worse." He stepped forward, shining the light into the space before them. The beam traveled around the room, which was relatively small and held shelves on all three sides. Boxes and containers were stacked side-by-side. A vent ran across the whole upper portion of the wall opposing the door.

"I guess whatever it is, it originated here. And the vent's been pulling the smell into the other room." Kate turned her head and inhaled deeply before stepping through the door. Sawyer followed suit.

"Hate to say it, but seems we hit another dead end." Sawyer walked over to the nearest shelf and began examining the supplies. The air was starting to clear and Kate allowed herself to breathe more freely, though the smell was still nauseating.

Her eyes scanned each corner, hoping against hope that they were missing something. She looked up to the vent. The cage was bolted shut but maybe they could pry it open. It had to lead to the outside somewhere, right?

"Dharma Pasteurized _Cheese_," Sawyer remark in amused disbelief. "Who the hell would eat this crap?" Kate glanced over, watching as he set down the small box he'd been reading. As the light of his flashlight moved down the shelf, she mentally listed off the other labels. Canned vegetables, powdered milk, wheat crackers... She offhandedly acknowledged the fact that she was hungry, but thinking about eating made her feel sick.

Something caught her eye. "Wait, what's that?" Sawyer looked up from a crate of dried fruit. Kate walked over to the shelf, picking up a roll of...

"Looks like some old film," Sawyer commented as he closed the space between them, beaming the light on the film in Kate's hands. She unrolled it partially, squinting at the frames before her. The first few shots were of an Asian man. They were followed by pictures of someone's arm. And then a large needle going into that arm. Some sort of injection...

Kate swallowed and looked up. She realized then how close Sawyer was standing. His face was masked in a mixture of concentration, anger and what appeared to be worry. She blinked, and suddenly his eyes were looking at her. _Through _her.

Behind them, the alarm gave off a hollow-sounding _ding_. It was probably just Kate's imagination (or wishful thinking), but she could've sworn it sounded weak. Dying. Maybe it was wearing itself out.

Maybe they would be okay.

"Sawyer, we need to..." She didn't finish her thought as his body pressed against her. They fell back onto the shelves and Kate winced as she felt the hard wood digging into her spine. Sawyer's hands snaked their way around her waist and the pain instantly dulled.

The flashlight and the film dropped to the floor as she pulled his face down and kissed him. It was a needy and urgent act and she would've felt guilty for using him like this if she wasn't sure that he wanted it as much as she did. Their mouths blended into one as their bodies shifted aimlessly. Sawyer somehow managed to turn them so that his back was on the shelves, with Kate molded tightly against him.

The room seemed to melt away as they devoured each other, hands flying under shirts, over skin, into hair. At some point, Kate (or maybe it was Sawyer) realized that air was necessary, but that didn't stop their mouths from traveling down necks and nibbling on collar bones.

Kate's foot hit something soft and she mustered up enough control to peer around Sawyer's arm and investigate. The fallen flashlight beam was casting a steady glow on the large, black sack tucked under the shelves in the right corner. Something about this sight sent a prick of rationality into her mind and it was enough for her to pull away.

"Sawyer, wait, wait..." He growled against her ear and his stubble scraped her cheek as he stood back and looked down at her.

She felt the flush of her face and was thankful for the limited light.

"There's something on the floor." It had made a lot more sense in her head and she mentally kicked herself for not wording the statement differently. Sawyer ran a hand through his hair and sighed, licking his lips. Kate quickly looked away, unsure if she would be able to stop if they started something again.

(Unsure if she would _want _to stop.)

"Wonderful," Sawyer spoke finally, crouching down to retrieve his flashlight. He eyed the stuffed bag and glanced up at Kate. "Want me to open it?" She stepped back and nodded, self-consciously folding her hands across her chest.

Sawyer quickly located a zipper and pulled it back in one shift motion. A retched smell filled the air instantly, forcing Sawyer to stand up and cough.

"God damn..." He set the light on the open gap of the bag and it reflected off a pair of empty hazel eyes, surrounded by sickly green-gray skin and a few strands of dark, wavy hair.

Kate tried to look away but she couldn't.

Instead, she stepped forward and bent down. Her hand made its way toward the bag.

"Hey," Sawyer was suddenly beside her, his arm wrapped around her; his hand pulling hers away. "Kate?"

Her name, cloaked in emotion, seemed to draw her to reality again. "I..." She swallowed back a lump in her throat. From here, she could just make out the swan in middle of Dharma logo on the dead man's chest.

("_Look at the wall. You see that? That's a timer. It's counting down. I've got to enter the code. I've got to push the button_.")

Sawyer watched her carefully before speaking. "You know him?" It was a question, yet it was a statement at the same time. Kate closed her eyes and didn't protest when Sawyer helped her up. She turned around and got her breathing under control before nodding.

"That's the man who was occupying the hatch before we found it." She looked back at Sawyer, keeping her eyes away from the corpse. Her mind searched for a name. "Desmond."

Sawyer tilted his head, letting this sink in. "He ran off, didn't he?" His recollecting of the events Kate had filled him in on after his return were fuzzy, but this particular bit had been too strange to forget. Again, Kate nodded. (Things were only getting stranger.)

"Guess we know where he ended up, then." Sawyer chuckled humorlessly and Kate's eyes wandered back to the corner despite herself.

"Why..." Her question, rhetorical though it would have been, went unvoiced. Instead, she started forward again. She'd noticed something just now.

Sawyer quickly reached for her again but she held up a hand. "No, look. There's something under it..." She bit her tongue. "Under _him_."

They both turned to the body and Sawyer took note of the carpet, or lack thereof, underneath it. He snorted in disgust, waving a hand at Kate to bid her back, before grasping the edges of the bag with both hands. He heaved it out of the corner and let it drop to the ground with a dulled _thud_. A hand fell from the gap and Sawyer felt his stomach twist. He turned and was relieved that Kate apparently hadn't noticed. She was standing in the corner, previously occupied by the body, looking down at the floor.

He came up beside her and looked down as well.

A couple of wooden boards were nailed together, covering what appeared to be a hole in the stone. Sawyer reached down, lifting the latch that held the makeshift door closed, and pushed the boards aside.

The beam of the flashlight hit the floor a good 15 feet down. Sawyer looked up at Kate, and she tried to smile, but images of derange brown-green eyes kept dancing around her head.

"Come on," Sawyer stated, unable to bear watching her like this. His hand automatically rested on the small of her back and she instantly felt a bit safer. A little less alone. "We ain't got much time."

She nodded, allowing him to lead her back to the other room.

From the hole in the storage room, another pair of deranged eyes gleamed, empty and haunting despite the life that swam in their blue depths.

The alarm gave off a _ding _and the eyes blinked and disappeared.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Woah. So, _so _sorry about the long-ass hiatus this story took! Especially with no warning! That was unexpected. And thing is, I can ruffle up a billion excuses life,college, laziness... but the main reason was that my interest in Lost took a hit. I have a short attention span, and - generally - when I'm hooked on something a web site, a show, a story... for a long period of time, eventually I get bored with it and I _have to_ drop it for a bit so I can get into back to it later. And that happened with me over the last few weeks, but now I'm back and I won't be going away for over a month again :p At least I didn't leave y'all hanging at a very bad spot. Heh.

So, to make up for that, I got carried away and this turned into a very long chapter. So long, I had to cut it. And to keep you guys from another few day's wait, I'm posting this now and there'll be another chapter (the "second half" of this) up in a day or two. It's pretty much done but I've only revised the first part, so yes. I'll attempt to get into a regular update pattern again, and I'll be working on posting that other story I promised last time :p Spring break's this coming week, so things are looking good!

Thanks for sticking with me, and enjoy!

---

Kate's eyes instantly found the timer as Sawyer urged her gently through the door. She watched the red number flash from '16' to '15' with a _ding_ that barely made her blink. As Sawyer's warm hand left its spot on her back, reality came flooding back. She shook her head clear and opened her mouth to speak, but the realization that she had nothing to say slapped her in the face. Wrapping her arms around herself, Kate watched as Sawyer stalked deeper into the room and gathered his pack. He looked up offhandedly and regarded her for a moment before breaking the heavy silence.

"Gonna get a move on it, sweetheart?"

Kate chewed on the inside of her cheek; her gaze trailing to a burn on the carpet by her feet. Instead of verbally answering (mainly because she didn't trust herself to speak at the moment), she nodded absently and walked past Sawyer. Snatching her bag off the couch she'd disposed of it on earlier, she disappeared into the bathroom.

Sawyer sighed, unsure of how things between and Kate would progress after this. Finding it easier to not think about the future (_their_ future), he set his mind on the task at hand.

The alarm _dinged_ and Sawyer let his eyes scan the room for anything they might have forgotten.

---

The bathroom was as empty as they had first found it.

Kate had gone in knowing this.

She needed to put some physical space - a wall, a door, _anything_ - between herself and Sawyer. With everything that had happened over the past day, just being in the same room as him would be enough to crumble her defenses. And now that they (_hopefully_) had a way out, she couldn't risk that happening.

The shower handle screeched as she turned the water off; her eyes closed against the cool liquid that was dripping down her face. An inhale of breath, a count to five, and she was ready.

Making her way back into the main quarters, she instantly sought out Sawyer's form. He was standing with his back to her, facing the farthest bookcase division, his finger raised as he followed it across the many titles lining the shelf before him. From her prior investigation, Kate knew most of the works along the wall were scientific studies, textbooks, case files and unknown documents. She watched as Sawyer wrapped his hand around a dark navy leather cover and pulled it from the shelf to examine it more closely. Kate fought a smile, knowing that he was up for reading most anything, judging by his rapport on the island thus far. Things weren't about to change.

Turning away, she continued forward to the door that led into the miniature laboratory. Twisting the knob, she waited for the lights to automatically flicker on before stepping into the cool air.

She was unsure of the reasoning that had brought her back into this room, yet she now found herself standing in front of the large, stainless steel sink. A simple cabinet was stationed beneath it, almost tauntingly begging to be opened. Letting her backpack slip down to the floor, Kate pulled out the top drawer and regarded the row of cased syringes that lay tucked inside. A fresh image flashed through her mind; an image of an arm and a needle. The picture faded, only to be replaced by one of gleaming, hazel eyes. Eyes lacking the spark of life.

Before her mind could fill in the missing details, Kate slammed the drawer shut and leaned against the counter.

There was nothing for them in here.

But, perhaps, there was something for them to bring back to the camp. Something that shouldn't be left behind only to be destroyed. (That is, if their suspicions about the timer were indeed to come true.)

Gathering herself yet again, Kate reopened the cabinet and extracted one of the packed boxes, ignoring the Dharma notepad and pens that took up the rest of the drawer. Her eyes traveled to the glassed shelves hovering over the sink: beakers, flasks, vials... (_Breakable_.) Further down: scales, balances and weights... (_Useless_.)

Kate's footsteps bounced off the walls and against the hum of the air conditioner as she walked further into the room. The last countertop was stacked with an assortment of metal instruments. She ran her fingers over a scalpel, peeling it off the rubber mat it lay on and turning it in her hands. They had knives and scissors back at their hatch, but she figured Jack would be able to appreciate this little token (if he was willing to ever speak to her again, of course. And if she ever got back from this adventure with Sawyer, she highly doubted he would.) Ironically, this sharp little tool was, to Jack, the equivalent of a gun to Kate and Sawyer. Something that just felt _right_ in their hands.

The door to the room flew open (Kate hadn't noticed it shutting in the first place), causing her to visibly flinch. Sawyer paused at the entrance, pinning her with an amused look.

"Think you've been hangin' 'round the doc too much, Freckles." They both looked down at the device in her hand. Kate shrugged.

"There's some useful things laying around here. I figured I'd bring them back with us."

"Ah," Sawyer chuckled. "A peace offering. You and Jacko been kinda edgy with each other as of late." His eyes glittered, playful but sad, in the bright light. "Guess the only way to his heart is the literal one, huh?"

Allowing herself a smile, Kate turn back to the counter. A collection of sterilized needles caught her eye and she picked them up as well. Walking back to kneel by her bag, she glanced up at Sawyer.

"You ready?"

He replied with a nod.

Zipping the main compartment and slinging the pack over her shoulder, Kate got to her feet. She cast a final look around the room as Sawyer turned and stalked out the door. Her gaze landed on the shadowed shelves lining the far wall - on one of the central containers, and more so, on the deformed creature floating within it. Kate stared at it for a long second, her forehead furrowed in though.

"Better hurry it up. Time's tickin' down to the fourth minute, and this is one show I'm doubtin you'll want front row seat to..."

Sawyer's voice faded off as the door gently flowed shut, snapping Kate out of her trance. With a sigh, she stepped forward, reached for the knob and gave the door a careless tug.

This time, however, it didn't swing open.

(_No_.) She jiggled the handle. (_No, no, NO_!) Her heart starting racing. (This is _not_ happening.)

"Sawyer!" Her shout was drowned by the sudden onset of loud beeps. Confusion gave way to total fear; they were past the fourth minute mark and she was stuck in this room. Alone.

She banged her fists against the metal of the door, but the pounding was instantly dulled by the thick isolation.

_Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding._

"Sawyer!" (He's got to hear me. He's got to get me out of here.) "The door's locked!" Nothing. "_Sawyer_!"

Her eyes stung and she cursed herself for it. Her foot dove into the bottom of the door; she needed some kind of physical pain to calm herself down.

But she was too numb to feel.

The lights flickered and Kate's fists stopped midair. Her hands shook as they hovered between her and the door.

Another flick and she was plunged into absolute darkness.

_Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding._

(Calm down. _Relax_. You can do this.) Her fingers traced the wall framing the door. They brushed against the light switch. (You always find a way out.) She turned it on and looked back over her shoulder expectantly, waiting for the soft yellow light to offer her some hope.

(You always get away.)

But the light never came. Instead, five glowing red numbers appeared against the dark wall.

000:42

_Ding._

(You always run.)

000:23

_Ding._

But there was nowhere to run to this time.

000:16

_Ding._

She turned her back on the door and slid down to the ground.

000:14

_Ding._

_("Kate_...")

000:08

_Ding._

The solid matter behind and below her suddenly disappeared.

"_Kate_!"

She blinked and found herself blinded by the strong light. The jarred fetus she'd been staring at came into focus and she quickly looked back at the source of the voice.

Sawyer stood holding the door open. His eyebrows were lifted in wary amusement.

"I said, you'd better hurry it up. Ain't got much time left..."

Kate swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.

"Right, sorry... I was..." Her eyes drifted back to the far wall. "Thinking," she added absently.

Sawyer let out a sigh. "Yeah, well, it happens." When she didn't reply, he knocked on the metal behind him for emphasis. "Any day now."

She tore her gaze from the end of the room and forced herself past him and out the door. (It had all felt so real...)

Sawyer snorted in annoyance, sending an angry look around the clean, white room before following.

The door slid shut and the lights flickered off.

One of the contained organisms on the opposing wall twitched inside its confined quarters.

---

Sawyer adjusted the pack on his good shoulder and made his way across the room. He tossed a look back at the counter as it _dinged_ to the third minute. It didn't count down in the same manner as the one back at "their" hatch. Sawyer was glad they wouldn't be sticking around to see if that was a good or a bad thing.

Kate was already by the door leading out towards the tunnel. As Sawyer reached her, she spun around sharply.

"Wait. The pup."

For a moment, her words made no sense. Then Sawyer remembered.

"The _pup_. Of course..." Her lifted a hand and shrugged. "So, where is he?"

Kate walked around him and scanned the room. "I don't know. I left him here with you."

Behind her, Sawyer left out a growl. "Well excuse me. Ain't like I've got much experience with this sort of thing." He stepped up next to her and shouted into the room. "Hey, dog! Come 'ere!"

The silence was broken only by the alarm.

"His loss." Sawyer backed up. "We've gotta go." Kate didn't move. "_Now_." He reached for her arm but she stepped further into the room.

"He's got to be in here somewhere."

"Damn it, woman." Sawyer went for her arm again. "You're going to get us both killed over some damn animal." She evaded him once more, moving around the corner table. She stopped suddenly, frozen, her gaze cast downward. Sighing, Sawyer came around to her side and peered towards the ground.

There, curled up against the nape of the dead wolf - almost perfectly blended - was the young canine. His glassy yellow-gold eyes looked up at the two towering humans, and slowly he lifted his head to regard them with a sad curiosity.

Sawyer felt Kate shudder beside him and he felt like an idiot for (wanting yet) not knowing how to comfort her. Doing the best he could given the situation, he scooped down and plucked the puppy from the ground, balancing its soft body in one hand as he used the other to cover the dead animal's head with the sheet. Standing up, he turned and deposited the creature in Kate's awaiting arms. She seemed to come out of her daze as the soft fur brushed her skin and she tightened her grip; her mouth tensed into a thin line.

She'd seen far too many empty, lifeless eyes today, but now wasn't the time for giving into her emotions.

"All right. Let's get out of here." She turned and walked briskly around the table and towards the door.

Sawyer looked back at the counter as it reached the final minute, then followed.

---


End file.
